Description

‘A truly revelatory story of courage, treachery, intrigue, divided loyalties and vengeance’ Damien Lewis, author of SAS Great Escapes

‘A gripping, unsettling journey into the strange moral fog of the war’s last days – and the shadows we inherit long after’ Iain MacGregor, author of The Lighthouse of Stalingrad

The grandson of a King. The son of the Viceroy of India. Churchill’s nephew. Held captive at the notorious Colditz prisoner of war camp, they were the Prominente: scions of the British establishment, and pawns in the hands of Nazi leaders.

As a German defeat loomed, the SS head of the POW camps Gottlob Berger made a pivotal decision: he would disobey direct orders and spare their lives. ‘Please remember what I have done for you when the war ends,’ he asked. This Nazi overseer, who would later be convicted of war crimes, held their future in his hands.

Eighty years later, David Lascelles – the son of George, Earl of Harewood, who would never have been born if his father had been executed – traces the Prominentes’ extraordinary journey and wonders who Gottlob Berger was and what motivated his fateful decision: compassion? Remorse? Or self-interest?

Publisher Review

A fascinating story about the fate of the VIP prisoners of Colditz that is grounded in some remarkable family and military history detective work. Beautifully and poignantly told — Robert Verkaik, author of THE TRAITOR OF COLDITZ Utterly enthralling. Not just a little-known wartime story, but a fascinating reflection on the war’s legacy for the next generation — Alwyn Turner, author of A SHELLSHOCKED NATION Visceral and meticulously researched… a triumph — John Jay, author of NINETTE’S WAR A remarkable and moving quest to understand contrasting lives and generations cast into each other’s paths by the hazards of family, nationality and conflict. Lascelles brings a filmmaker’s eye to composition… At once intimate and panoramic, his research discloses unsettling echoes within Europe’s most infamous historical epochs — Professor Jane Caplan, University of Oxford A gripping true story from the heart of Nazi Germany’s escape-proof fortress… Out of Colditz positively sizzles — Damien Lewis, author of SAS GREAT ESCAPES