The Traitor of Colditz: The Definitive Untold Account of Colditz Castle: 'Truly revelatory' Damien Lewis

This account has not been told before about the traitors of Colditz and is very well researched and keeps the interest all the way through . Delves into discrimination and class elitism that was practiced by the officers incarcerated in the Colditz prison . A few officers were willing to collaborate and spy for the Germans against the Allied cause in return for various favours thinking that Germany would win the war . Some backed the loser and paid the ultimate price . I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it .

Great read. Detail is clear but easy to grasp. Reads like a spy novel not a reality. Well done. Made me want to find out more.

It's interesting how, as time moves further away from the period portrayed, an author/historian is able to drill down deeply into specific subjects, whereas previously, closer to the date, secrets were not so forthcoming. The declassification of military records and ready access to them at the National Archive in Kew have changed the face of the researching and the recording of history. Thus is the case with Traitor in Colditz.While the story of Walter Purdy's twisty odyssey from Mosely Blackshirt to condemned Prisoner is infinitely fascinating, for this reader, it wasn't especially well told.The tone is less Guardian/Independent and more Mail on Sunday/Daily Express. The authorial voice suggests a particular desired moral response from the reader, rather than letting her make her own mind up about things. Mixed in with this is a subtle disdain for the regard in which ex-Colditz PoWs are held. I've seen this phenomenon before in other PoW histories, notably The Barbed Wire University. But whereas that work was characterised by a wry wit, this one is rather earnest in its efforts to be taken seriously. I was gripped by the story, but I didn't feel engaged by the author's telling of it.And sadly, the Content Error facility on my Kindle App got a lot of use, especially in the picture section regarding the Colditz group picture. Some of the identification was eccentric. I was also curious as to why a picture of the fateful Attic was included, but a photo of the location of the tunnel entrance was not, especially as the writer visited both. I would also have liked to have seen a picture of the document in which Willie Tod's written evidence appears to have been altered, as this is an important element in the conclusion.All in all, despite my criticisms, I'm glad this work is out there and I acknowledge the depth and reach of the writer's research. This book is a worthy addition to any Colditz oriented library.

This book casts a light on an aspect of WW2 which we all thought we knew about, namely the "Colditz Story." It shows up some we thought were heroes as class-obsessed, self-serving public schoolboys and others as patriots prepared to be considered collaborators in the service of the Allied cause. Very detailed but well presented.

I havent read the whole book yet but was put off by the skimmed over detail of coded POW letters sent home. This is in the chapter "The Dentist and the Codes" and the code was called the "560". Easy to understand that a M19 recipient was to construct a grid of 9 squares and then "...add(ed) to it every fifth and then sixth word. But no detail of how these words could describe military hardware, numbers of troops, place names in Germany etc without these being spotted by German censors. Perhaps there were substitute words agreed in the system like "sister = tank and "mother". = 2000. There must have been a lot of substitute words to send even a short useful message particularly as it wouldnt arrive for 5 weeks.Green was said to have a photographic memory (dont they always have in a good tale) so easy for him and later when he teaches the system to another agent Brown "in 3 hours" who must also have been suitably blessed.Its put me off reading any further because recently I read the wonderful book "Between Silk and Cyanide" by Leo Marks which gives lots of detail of coding and teaching agents and how difficult and time consuming it was.Maybe I will finish it.

Well researched and written. An excellent and gripping read about a little-known subject. Very much looking forward to his next book.

Fascinating what is still being uncovered about ww2.

It's an intersting read, not really about Purdy, the "Traitor", more about the men who voluntarily decided to fight the Nazis while being POW's, Quarter master Sergeannt "Busty" Brown is one, the main one really, it was he, along with Green a POW dentist who sent messages back to London, and put their lives on the line every day, and never got the recognition they deserved after the war.Also the description of the Coldistz inmates was worth reading, so overall worth a gander.