Rich and insightful panorama of POW life. Every one of the pages hums with human interest and the whole enterprise is conducted with the highest standards of scholarship These astonishing tales of improvisation, ingenuity and courage are so enthralling. Every facet of this epic story is covered with sensitivity, restraint, and a leavening humourfull of unforgettable storiesSuch stories illuminate a great subject in engrossing detail 'a valuable, fascinating and moving book ... this is a riveting collection of stories about incredible resourcefulness. Many of the PoWs found new skills they had not imagined in the free world, read books they would never have read otherwise (the "university" in the book's title is not mere fancy), and forged friendships that would have been impossible in a more class-bound society. And Clive Dunn's reminders, in Dad's Army, that the Germans don't like it up 'em, would have lost much urgency, one suspects, had he never been captured by them.' 'a valuable, fascinating and moving book ... this is a riveting collection of stories about incredible resourcefulness. Many of the PoWs found new skills they had not imagined in the free world, read books they would never have read otherwise (the "university" in the book's title is not mere fancy), and forged friendships that would have been impossible in a more class-bound society. And Clive Dunn's reminders, in Dad's Army, that the Germans don't like it up 'em, would have lost much urgency, one suspects, had he never been captured by them.'
One of the best war books I have ever read
Brilliantly researchedGillies has weaved her findings into a fascinating and deeply moving piece of social history
What the reader is most likely to take away from this rich and well-researched book is a sense of the extraordinary ingenuity and resourcefulness so many POWs displayed
Many eye-opening facts in a bright new history of POWsIm finding it enthralling
Rich and insightful panorama of POW life. Every one of the pages hums with human interest and the whole enterprise is conducted with the highest standards of scholarship
These astonishing tales of improvisation, ingenuity and courage are so enthralling. Every facet of this epic story is covered with sensitivity, restraint, and a leavening humourfull of unforgettable storiesSuch stories illuminate a great subject in engrossing detail
Midge Gillies has tackled a colossal subject with calm professionalism and a lightness of touch which makes it a great joy to read. An outstanding piece of scholarship which is as readable as it is informative
Outstanding...absorbing
Midge Gilliess engaging The Barbed-Wire Universityis a breezy, edifying history which knits together compelling tragi-comic tales
Fascinating book by the daughter of a POWwritten in an easy human style and very informative
