A prisoner's duty : great escapes in U.S. military history / Robert C. Doyle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Doyle, Robert C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Escapes--United States--History.

Escapes.

Prisoners of war--United States--History.

Prisoners of war.

History.

United States--History, Military.

United States.

History, Military.

Physical Description:

xxv, 372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, 1997.

Summary:

Throughout our nation's history American servicemen and civilians have resisted captivity in every form, drawing on special powers of ingenuity, determination, and patriotism to escape -- sometimes repeatedly. Robert Doyle's penetrating look at some extraordinary escapes by Americans breaks new ground in escape psychology, shedding light on the types of people who try to escape and those who do not.

Concentrating on the American character held hostage, Doyle combed official and private archives as well as unpublished diaries, letters, and memoirs to find exciting stories of individuals, famous and unknown, who risked their lives and those of others to escape. The collection of stories he has compiled is broad in scope, featuring both civilians and soldiers, sailors, and airmen. He tells of sailors who broke out of English prison ships during the American Revolution, Texans captured by Santa Anna in Mexico, and POWs from the Civil War, the wars of the twentieth century, and the smaller conflicts in today's headlines. He also includes the desperate acts of irrepressible private citizens -- slaves on the Underground Railroad, settlers and traders escaping Indians, and journalists and government officials eluding terrorist captors all over the globe.

Jammed with enough exciting tales to satisfy anyone's fascination with escape, this engrossing study probes the personal and social impacts of escape, the many motivations that spur such acts, and the concept of the escaper as the ideal prisoner and ultimate patriot. Illustrated with eighteen rare photographs, this work also includes an exhaustive bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [327]-361) and index.

ISBN:

1557501807

OCLC:

36767831