Escape from Colditz

Review also includes:

The Last Duel, *, Martyn Beardsley, ill. Kevin Hopgood, 64pp, 978-1842994559

Dick Turpin: Legends and Lies, *, Terry Deary, ill. Zoografic, 72pp, 978-1842994566

This new series from Barrington Stoke is classified by them as ‘Non-fiction for 10-14s, reading age 8+’. Escape from Colditz is the best of the three by far. It tells of the escape of two Dutch Officers from the prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle in 1941. It is not clear why Dutch Officers were chosen as there were escapes by British personnel that might be more relevant to the prospective audience for these books, but it is a tale of courage and adventure. Their story is clearly told with short chapters with the trademark paper and font of Barrington Stoke books. The illustrations are very black and depict caricatures of Germans, monocles and all. There is a plan of the castle but no map to show the scale of the journey to freedom which faced the escapees.

The Last Duel describes the circumstances surrounding the supposed last duel in England which took place in Portsmouth in 1845 and was fought over a woman, the wife of one of the duellists who felt he had been insulted. The other protagonist appears to have misread the signals sent by the said wife. The prose is turgid and dull to read and it is difficult to see a reluctant reader make his/her way through it. The very black and white drawings are by Kevin Hopgood.

Dick Turpin: Legends and Lies is written by Terry Deary and unfortunately this is the worst of the three titles by far. A boy goes to see a hanging and meets a group of people, all of whom it transpires have a connection to Dick Turpin. One is the farmer who betrayed him, one a victim and the other is Dick Turpin’s father. These connections are detailed chapter by chapter while the highwayman awaits his hanging which is told in some detail. Dreadful illustrations full of violence pepper the book.

I am not sure why Barrington Stoke should think that stories like the hanging of Dick Turpin which appear to glorify the violence meted out to him, and to a lesser extent The Last Duel, should be the right approach to get reluctant readers to read. Escape from Colditz does speak of courage and initiative and there are plenty of events and people across the centuries whose stories could be told and maybe show that violence and violent death are not all there is in this world. Boys at whom these books are aimed are often surrounded by enough violence from their surroundings and the media.

A small point but people were ‘hanged’ not ‘hung’!