Reading for pleasure: June 2023

Ben Macintyre (Viking: £25; e-book £7.99)

Hearing about this book last year, my first reaction was surprise. What could possibly be written about the Colditz story which hadn’t already been published? That reaction was tempered by the fact that the author is the estimable Ben Macintyre, whose work I’ve been enjoying for years. So, in one of the most egregious examples of Indian giving in some years, the Waterstones points went in part to a present for the current Mrs J. I’m not sure she’s had her hands on it yet.

Yes, we have the stories of the escapes and escapers, but Macintyre’s Colditz is far more multi-dimensional. Imagine men from all nationalities, all walks of life and, significantly in the 1940s, all class systems, confined together for six years. Inevitably there were conflicts of every kind, not just of the gaoler/prisoner variety. That particular one increased in intensity as time wore on. Camp commandants started with the civilised anglophile Reinhold Eggers. Then, as the tide of war turned and Hitler became increasingly infuriated by successful escapes, the regime became much more severe. We seldom hear of the last weeks in Colditz, when there was genuine fear of a mass massacre.

Tales of the successful escapes, of course, the stuff of derring-do, are still stirring. French aristocrat Pierre Mairesse-Lebrun, who literally vaulted the perimeter fence and kept running. Airey Neave, latterly Conservative politician murdered by the IRA. And, of course, Pat Reid, who turned his Colditz experience into a highly successful business – the books, the board games, the TV and film consultancies.

But Macintyre, with his extensive research, opens our eyes to many unknown facets. The astonishing fact, for example, that French officers would have nothing to do with other French soldiers with Jewish backgrounds. Or the sinister grouping in 1945 of prisoners dubbed Prominente, men related to influential people who, as a consequence, might be useful pawns in an endgame. I think I knew that Douglas Bader had ended the war in Colditz: I just hadn’t realised what an unpleasant person he was.

This is certainly the most detailed account I have ever read of Colditz. Macintyre wears his research lightly, presenting a huge mass of information in a cogent and enjoyable way. I hesitate to quibble on one minor point, but I suspect most Scots will be as amused as I was at the conclusion of the tale of a Scot who, after liberation, returned “to his tiny Scottish village” – Dunfermline.

Charlie Higson (Ian Fleming Publications: £12.99; e-book £8.99)

All proceeds of this book go to the National Literary Trust which works to improve and support the literacy skills of disadvantaged children.

This slim volume is written with verve and captures the mood of Ian Fleming’s spy. Æthelstan of Wessex has a claim to the throne of England and will do his utmost to ensure Charles is not crowned King on 6 May. The book is bang up to date, with the author weaving the failure of Credit Suisse and the King cancelling his state visit to France into the narrative. Bond finds himself following in the tracks of 009, whose battered body has been recovered. Bond travels to deepest Hungary where he poses as a hired gun to support Æthelstan’s assault on the state. There follow classic Fleming derived scenes of good facing evil. Slim it may be, but we have a new, fresher, current Bond who resists female advances and who through the character of Æthelstan shows the challenges facing the world and society. Terrific read.