Aiding escape and evasion Books

Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Vaguely she began to wonder which of these worldly men round her was the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel,' who held the threads of such daring plots, and the fate of valuable lives in his hands.In the early days of the bloody French Revolution, fleeing aristocrats are being captured and sent to the guillotine. But the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel along with his band of English gentlemen is outwitting the revolutionaries. Known only by his calling card, he arrives in disguise and smuggles the nobles out of danger to the safety of England. But can he guard his true identity forever, or will he give his life for his cause?

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Book SynopsisThe harrowing story of a woman who escaped famine and terror in North Korea, not once but twice.A gripping, suspenseful and cathartic memoir that tells a story of pain and perseverance and makes the moral case for asylum.' David Lammy MPNorth Korea is an open-air prison from which there is no escape. Only a handful of men and women have succeeded.Jihyun Park is one of these rare survivors. Twice she left the land of the socialist miracle' to flee famine and dictatorship.By the age of 29 she had already witnessed a lifetime of suffering. Family members had died of starvation; her brother was beaten nearly to death by soldiers. Even smiling and laughing was discouraged.The first time she ran, she was forced abandon her father on his deathbed crossing the border under a hail of bullets. In China she was sold to a farmer, with whom she had a son, before being denounced and forcibly returned to North Korea.Six months later guards abandoned her, injured, outside a prison camp. She recoveredTrade ReviewA Washington Post noteworthy book ‘I am still reeling. … How does one person carry so much — the pain of a family lost and life destroyed, and the joy and challenge of a new family and a new life in such an unfamiliar place?’ Financial Times ‘A gripping, suspenseful and cathartic memoir that tells a story of pain and perseverance and makes the moral case for asylum.’ David Lammy MP ‘A moving and insightful account of how tyrannical governance can squeeze all the joy and almost all the humanity out of its subjects and drain them of any power to revolt.’ Geoffrey Robertson KC ‘Extraordinary. … Elegantly written, reflective, wise, sad and at times almost unbearably painful.’ Marcel Theroux ‘Park’s story is shocking and a testament to her resilience.’ The Telegraph ‘Detailed and damning.’ TLS ‘Brave, tender, and intimate … A frank and balanced view of the reality of life under a dictatorship.’ Kirkus ‘A compelling and well-written account of life inside (and outside of) North Korea. Moving without being sentimental, comprehensive but never dry.’ Daniel Tudor, author of North Korea Confidential ‘An incredible story of survival and escape that provides tremendous insight … Anyone who wants to understand North Korea and be inspired by the strength of a true survivor must read this book.’ War on the Rocks ‘Courage and sacrifice befall few. Jihyun is one of those few. This fascinating and shocking book allows us to stand with Jihyun and others like her.’ Lord David Alton, Chairman of the British-DPRK All-Party Parliamentary Group ‘A riveting story of pain, suffering, starvation, betrayal, abandonment, and ultimately redemption. This deeply personal tale offers profound insights on human nature and the inhumanity of the North Korean state. Jihyun Park’s courage is a true inspiration.’ Professor Sung-Yoon Lee, author of The Sister

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Book SynopsisTHE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - AND PERFECT GIFT FOR HISTORY BUFFS!''A master at setting the pulse racing'' Daily Mail''A fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject'' Telegraph_____________________________FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SAS: ROGUE HEROESColditz Castle: a forbidding Gothic tower on a hill in Nazi Germany. You may have heard about the prisoners and their daring and desperate attempts to escape, but that''s only part of the real story.In Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes us inside the walls of the most infamous prison in history to meet the real men behind the legends. Heroes and bullies, lovers and spies, captors and prisoners living cheek-by-jowl for years in a thrilling game of cat and mouse - and all determined to escape by any means necessary.Deeply researched and full of incredible stories, this is a tale of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances - and will change how you think about Colditz forever._____________________________''Like watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised'' Spectator''Every Ben Macintyre book is a treat'' The TabletSunday Times bestseller, November 2022Trade ReviewA fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject -- Patrick Bishop * Telegraph *Like watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised . . . rich in humour and quirky detail . . . another compelling narrative -- Clare Mulley * Spectator *Nuanced and gripping . . . told with sensitivity and insight, with an eye for telling detail -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Fascinating * The Sun *Every Ben Macintyre book is a treat -- Jane Thynne * The Tablet *Entertaining yet objective and often moving * Wall Street Journal *Macintyre's genius has long been to excavate the nuance, subtlety and ambiguity beneath the myths he explores . . . remarkable -- Matthew D'Ancona * Tortoise Media *Another fine history . . . His unerring eye for the telling detail that can illuminate a greater story is apparent in Colditz -- Ronan McGreevy * The Irish Times *Macintyre so seamlessly fuses so many different accounts that their compilation creates something more profound than a simple escape yarn: a biography of the prison itself and the world detainees built there -- Andrea Pitzer * Washington Post *Macintyre recreates the daring escape stories with punchy flair . . . a lively page-turner -- NJ McGarrigle * Independent.ie *My book of the year . . . a masterful history of Colditz. It's absurdly readable (and at times just absurd) as well as being informative, hilarious and deeply moving -- Geoff Dyer * LitHub *

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Book SynopsisBrought to you by Penguin.In a forbidding Gothic castle on a hilltop in the heart of Nazi Germany, an unlikely band of British officers spent the Second World War plotting daring escapes from their Nazi captors. Or so the story of Colditz has gone, unchallenged for 70 years. But that tale contains only part of the truth.The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce. Through an astonishing range of material, Macintyre reveals a remarkable cast of characters, wider than previously seen and hitherto hidden from history, taking in prisoners and captors who were living cheek-by-jowl in a thrilling game of cat and mouse.From the Indian doctor whose hunger strike and eventual escape reads like a thriller, to America''s oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent, the soldier-prisoners of Colditz were astonishingly imaginative in their escape attempts; but there were many other ways to survive while awaiting their unknown fate. Deeply researched and full of incredible colour, this is the definitive book on one of the greatest war stories ever told. Ben MacIntyre 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022Trade ReviewA fine feat of storytelling . . . will surely become the last word on the subject -- Patrick Bishop * Telegraph *Like watching a black-and-white photograph being colourised . . . rich in humour and quirky detail . . . another compelling narrative -- Clare Mulley * Spectator *Nuanced and gripping . . . told with sensitivity and insight, with an eye for telling detail -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Fascinating * The Sun *Every Ben Macintyre book is a treat -- Jane Thynne * The Tablet *Entertaining yet objective and often moving * Wall Street Journal *Macintyre's genius has long been to excavate the nuance, subtlety and ambiguity beneath the myths he explores . . . remarkable -- Matthew D'Ancona * Tortoise Media *Another fine history . . . His unerring eye for the telling detail that can illuminate a greater story is apparent in Colditz -- Ronan McGreevy * The Irish Times *Macintyre so seamlessly fuses so many different accounts that their compilation creates something more profound than a simple escape yarn: a biography of the prison itself and the world detainees built there -- Andrea Pitzer * Washington Post *Macintyre recreates the daring escape stories with punchy flair . . . a lively page-turner -- NJ McGarrigle * Independent.ie *My book of the year . . . a masterful history of Colditz. It's absurdly readable (and at times just absurd) as well as being informative, hilarious and deeply moving -- Geoff Dyer * LitHub *

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Book SynopsisDiscover a powerful collection of the hardships, hairbreadth escapes, and mortal struggles of enslaved people seeking freedom: These are the true stories of the Underground Railroad.A secret network of safe houses, committees and guides that stretched well below the Mason-Dixon Line into the brutal slave states of the American South, the Underground Railroad remains one of the most impressive and well-organised resistance movements in modern history. It facilitated the escape of over 30,000 slave 'passengers' through America and into Canada during its peak years of 1850-60, and, in total, an estimated 100,000 slaves found their freedom through the network.Abridged from William Still's The Underground Railroad Records - an epic historical document that chronicles the first-hand stories of American slaves who escaped to freedom via the Underground Railroad - Passengers tells of the secret methods, risks and covert sacrifices that were made to liberate so many from slavery. From tales of men murdered in cold blood for their part in helping assist runaways and terrifyingly tense descriptions of stowaways and dramatic escape plans, to stories of families reunited and the moments of absurdity that the Underground Railroad forced its 'passengers' to sometimes endure, Still's narratives testify to the humanity of this vast enterprise. WITH AN INTRODUCTION FROM TA-NEHISI COATES, AUTHOR OF THE WATER DANCER ABRIDGED FROM WILLIAM STILL'S THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD RECORDS

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