Praise for The Grand Escape:
* "Bascomb does an extraordinary job of bringing the principal escapees to life.... His account of the Herculean task of digging of the tunnel is fascinating, viscerally evoking the claustrophobic act. He also invests his account with page-turning suspense and colorful detail. The narrative is enhanced by the inclusion of generous period photographs and contemporary maps and charts. Altogether the book is a marvel of research and an example of narrative nonfiction at its finest. It's a grand adventure." Booklist, starred review
* "Suspenseful reading, enhanced by diagrams and photographs. A fine escapade related with proper drama and likely to be news even to well-read young historians." Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "It is a tale of triumph that became a template for future prisoners of war, and Bascomb's heavy, well-cited research provides the information readers need.... A fantastic pick for avid history readers." School Library Journal, starred review
"Plenty of photographs put faces to the escapees, and diagrams and maps illuminate the prison layout, tunnel, and destinations for border crossing. An introductory "List of Participants" is handy for reader review, and sources notes, bibliography, and index direct readers pursuing research. This, however, is a real-life thriller that's too compelling to relegate merely to World War I report writers." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"An excellent piece of history presented in a readable, entertaining format." School Library Connection
Praise for The Escape Artists:
* "Fast-paced account of a forgotten episode of World War I history.... Bascomb's portraits of the principals are affecting.... Expertly narrated, with just the right level of detail and drama." Kirkus Reviews
"A crackling good adventure.... Action-packed, briskly paced." Publishers Weekly
"Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape (1950) is widely considered the best nonfiction book about escapes from wartime prison camps. This gripping new volume gives Brickhill's classic a run for its money.... The book is intensely detailed and written with a prose style that puts readers right there in the camp with the prisoners: when the prisoners hold their breath, terrified of being discovered in a secret activity, the reader will hold his or her breath, too. In the ever-expanding genre of prison-escape sagas, this one joins the top ranks." Booklist
"A remarkable piece of hidden history, told perfectly... brims with adventure, suspense, daring, and heroism." David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon
"A ripping yarn timely and beautifully told." Alex Kershaw, author of The Longest Winter
"A rousing story of resilience and courage... Impeccable research and a page-turning narrative." Tom Clavin, author of Dodge City
"Thrilling, jaw-on-the-floor stuff." Alexander Rose, author of Washington's Spies and Men of War
"Don't wait for the movie. You'll feel like you're in one by the second page... In the midst of history's cruelest war, a band of Allied POWs brilliantly combined their unique talents, wit, and boundless grit to pull off the greatest breakout of the Great War." John U. Bacon, author of The Great Halifax Explosion
09/01/2018
Gr 8 Up—Bascomb presents the horrid conditions that prisoners of war at the notorious German prison camp Holzminden, run by the brutal Karl Niemeyer, experienced during World War I—and the band of men who were determined to break free. Their goal: to never get caught and do whatever it takes. They proved successful by digging a tunnel from this fortress prison through the foundation and out to freedom. The author carefully explains their extensive plans, bolstered by images and maps, and focuses on the science of the escape (milk used as invisible ink, makeshift bellows to provide fresh air into the tunnel) and how the men defied recapture. It is a tale of triumph that became a template for future prisoners of war, and Bascomb's heavy, well-cited research provides the information readers need. The dozens of names and intricate details occasionally slow down the narrative a bit, though the subject matter alone is compelling. VERDICT A fantastic pick for avid history readers.—Alicia Abdul, Albany High School, NY
★ 2018-06-18
Allied prisoners of war stage a series of intrepid escapes from German captors in this young readers' version of a true story from World War I.Established to hold captured Allied officers with histories of escape attempts, the camp at Holzminden, a "land-locked Alcatraz," was 150 miles from the Dutch border and bristling with guards. Many of the inmates, though, were stimulated rather than discouraged by these obstacles and, from its foundation, made tries at freedom—most notably on the night of July 23, 1918, when 29 men crawled out through a narrow tunnel dug over the previous months. Only 10 eluded the ensuing manhunt, but the exploit made headlines in Great Britain and was, Bascomb (The Escape Artists, 2018, etc.) claims, "the greatest escape of the Great War." Along with introducing a cast of colorful characters like RAF Lt. Harold Medlicott, "Britain's answer to Harry Houdini," who had already broken out of nine other camps, the author presents a picture of camp life as an oddly civilized affair in which the prisoners were so well-supplied from home that in the war's immediate aftermath local residents came to them for food. The tales of the digging of the cramped tunnel and of the escape itself make suspenseful reading, enhanced by diagrams and photographs.A fine escapade related with proper drama and likely to be news even to well-read young historians. (maps, sources, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)