The Longest Tunnel

The escape of seventy-six Allied POW's from Stalag Luft III at Sagan in March 1944 was the greatest escape attempt of WWII. A gallant endeavour with a sordid ending, it has come to be known as 'The Great Escape' since Paul Brickhill's classic early account (Faber, 1951) and John Sturges' immensely successful (though heavily fictionalised) feature film of 1963 starring, among others, Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. This is the true story, compiled by Burgess from eye-witness acounts, memoirs and recently declassified official records from America, Britain and Germany (most notably the official history of Sagan camp).