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The Great Escape  By  cover art

The Great Escape

By: Paul Brickhill
Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
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Publisher's summary

It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men for every hour, every day, and every night for more than a year. With only their bare hands and crude homemade tools, they sank shafts, built underground railroads, forged passports, drew maps, faked weapons, and tailored German clothes. They developed a fantastic security system to protect themselves from the Germans who tenaciously prowled the compounds. And against all odds, they pulled off a daring mass escape from a German POW camp.
©1978 Paul Brickhill (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The timing, cadence, vocal quality, and even melody of Whitfield's reading add to the suspense." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Great Escape

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

VERY GOOD BOOK.

If you could sum up The Great Escape in three words, what would they be?

IF-ONLY-THE- MEASUREMENTS-WERE-RIGHT!

What other book might you compare The Great Escape to and why?

A FICTIONAL BOOK. INTENSITY. ONLY BECAUSE BOTH WERE VERY VERY TENSE.

What about Robert Whitfield’s performance did you like?

HE DID A GREAT JOB!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES AND I DID.

Any additional comments?

HISTORY COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IF THEY HAD THE CORRECT MEASUREMENTS TO THE WOODS.....IF ONLY!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

great story, but I rarely give 5 stars

thoroughly enjoyable and relatively easy to follow on audio. much better and more accurate than the movie.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

great book!

Many have seen the film, but as always the book is better.
The detail these men had to take in drawing the document e nuts to appear like bad typing!
Hiding all the soil and finding wood, creating so many items they require I read actually made them inv e notes!
It truly not only saved many of their lives, but saved all their sanity giving them hope and something to work toward!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible account of the true Great Escape.

Completely held me. It takes a real knack to write facts and be engrossing.
Narrator was excellent. A great listen for anyone remotely interested in this escape and all that lead up to it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Movie is nothing like book! Book is fact, better!

Great detail! I also loved that the narrator used diff voices for diff accents. I read this book in high school and was glad to 'read' it again once I saw it on audible.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Tremendous story. Wonderfully narrated.

This is, of course, the book on which the famous movie was based. Brisk, cleat and clean, eye-witness factual, with bits of humour to leaven all. It also satisfying adds the post-war search for the truth behind the coverup, and the gradual accounting for all the missing men. A tribute to their duty, gallantry, and loss.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Truth is better than fiction.

The fact that these men were willing to do anything to distract the Germans from the front to aid in the war effort after years behind bars is amazing. What they were able to accomplish is simple unbelievable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging throughout, history trumps fiction again!

First, let me say that the performance is brilliant and the narrator does a fantastic job of drawing me in to the characters, the story and the moments. As a World War II junkie, I couldn’t ask for more. I had heard and of course seen movies about POW escapes, but to hear the first hand account and understand the work and the obstacles that were overcome is so much better. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Better than Hollywood's version

Excellent narrator. More fascinating than the movie. Very suspenseful even though I knew the outcome in advance. Vivid depictions of prison life.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Listen!

Very entertaining, narrator is easy to listen to. Book never drags and is a great story!

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