Jonathan F. VanceReviews

Inspiring and tragic story of the escape that inspired the Hollywood epic The Great Escape. In March 1944, 76 men escaped through a tunnel named Harry from the main POW camp run by the Luftwaffe, Stalag Luft III, near Sagan, now in Poland. The mass escape caused panic in Germany, and literally thousands of police and troops were diverted to recapture the escapees, of whom all but three were caught. Hitler, infuriated by the escape, ordered all of them to be shot, but his underlings, terrified of the repercussions for German prisoners in Allied hands, managed to get the number of executions reduced to 50. And so 50 Allied servicemen, from Britain, France, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Norway, Belgium, Greece and Lithuania, were loaded into cars by the Gestapo taken to isolated places and shot. The executions caused outrage among the Allies, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden vowed revenge upon the killers, and revulsion and anger swept through the Allied countries. A special unit of the RAF was assigned to bring justice to the killers. Eventually 21 of those responsible were hanged and 17 imprisoned. This is a great book which not only covers the meticulous planning of the escape and the ingenious ways the POWs fooled their captors, but gives a humorous and sometimes wistful account of life behind barbed wire. Although the result of the escape was eventually horrendously tragic, the author gives a wonderful account of brave men so determined to escape and rejoin the war effort that they were prepared to risk the ultimate penalty to do so. And so they died unbowed and defiant to the end.

In memory of The Fifty.

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The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944 by Jonathan F. Vance is the historical account of the largest prison break during World War II. Mr. Vance is a Canadian author and educator.

Many people only know of the events in this book from the fictionalized 1963 Hollywood account, but as often occurs, truth is stranger than fiction, and often much more mesmerizing. In The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944 by Jonathan F. Vance the author recounts the evens which led to the escape, and the aftermath.

This book is being re-released to honor the 75th anniversary of what we call now the “Great Escape”. Mr. Vance’s well researched and very readable account of the men of Stalag Luft III is exciting and personal. Each soldier gets a mini-biography (peppered throughout the book as they are introduced) , and it is obvious that the author really looks up to these guys.

The English officers saw it as their duty to escape, this they reasoned, helped the war effort by keeping the German troops busy with them instead of on the front lines (amazingly, they were correct). The fascinating thing is that the German officers understood this (in this case, where airmen are concerned at least), and while still punished the captured men, it was with a wink and appreciation of their efforts.
Like a cat and mouse game.

The author goes to describe how the prisoners made their escape materials, clothes, fake documentation, money, and more. They had to be careful and alter their uniforms so they won’t be caught with civilian clothes and executed as spies.

After the “Great Escape”, at the personal command of Hitler all the officers were executed, a war crime which reverberated throughout this horrible war. Even the German guards were shaken and quietly pointed out that it wasn’t them (the Luftwafa) who committed this atrocity.

While the book drags on in parts, I still found it very powerful. The story is remarkable and, while dealing with a short timeline, had much larger implications.

A History of The Arts

I was a little confused when I first started reading this book as I was expecting more of a cultural studies analysis of Canadian Culture. Instead, the book is a historical narrative of the arts in Canada, from pre-contact Aboriginal art to the present day.

I appreciated Vance's attempt at comprehensiveness, to create a long continuous narrative of the arts in Canada. However, in doing so, there are parts of the book that appear glossed over and over-simplified -- a consequence of trying to cover everything. For example, the sections on cultural nationalism resulting from state patronage, art as propaganda, are not fully explored in my opinion.

Since most of the major cultural theories and movements are only superficially discussed, I don't think this book will interest anyone studying cultural studies. Therefore, the book functions more as a survey and overview text of the arts in Canada.

Unlikely Soldiers, by Jonathan F. Vance, tells the true story of two Canadian men who, through extraordinary circumstance, become undercover agents in Britain's Special Operations Executive, a subversive unit working to infiltrate the Nazi regime in World War II.

Unlikely Soldiers, though laden with facts and research, reads like a novel. The story is fascinating, and Vance proves without a doubt that these two men should be called Canadian heroes.

Very engrossing read about the Great Escape. Author has obviously collected a great deal of material from the survivors, although the sources are not documented. Book slightly marred by editing and production bugs.