The confidence men: how two prisoners of war engineered the most remarkable escape in history

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher:
Random House
Pub. Date:
©2021
Edition:
First edition
Language:
English
Description
"Imprisoned in a remote Turkish prison camp during World War I, having survived a two-month forced march and a terrifying shootout in the desert, two British officers, Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, join forces to bamboozle their iron-fisted captors. To stave off despair and boredom, Jones takes a handmade Ouija board and fakes elaborate saeances for his fellow prisoners. Word gets around camp, and one day, a Turkish officer approaches Jones with a query: Could Jones contact the spirit world to find a vast treasure rumored to be buried nearby? Jones, a trained lawyer, and Hill, a brilliant magician, use the Ouija board--and their keen understanding of the psychology of deception--to build a trap for the Turkish officers that will ultimately lead them to freedom. The Confidence Men is the story of the only known con game played for a good cause--and of a profound but unlikely friendship. Had it not been for "the Great War," Jones, the Oxford-educated son of a British lord, and Hill, a mechanic from an Australian sheep farm, would never have met. But in pain, loneliness, hunger, and isolation, they formed a powerful emotional and intellectual alliance that saved both of their lives. Margalit Fox brings her "nose for interesting facts, the ability to constructa taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality" (Kathryn Schulz, New York) to this gripping tale of psychological strategy that is rife with cunning, danger, and moments of high farce that rival anything in Catch-22"--
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ISBN:
9781984853844
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID3344d3ca-3d3a-0744-c3b9-e8f901d1cf22
Grouping Titleconfidence men how two prisoners of war engineered the most remarkable escape in history
Grouping Authormargalit fox
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-04-17 20:54:05PM
Last Indexed2024-04-18 22:57:34PM

Solr Fields

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author
Fox, Margalit
author_display
Fox, Margalit
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Case Memorial Library
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display_description
"Imprisoned in a remote Turkish prison camp during World War I, having survived a two-month forced march and a terrifying shootout in the desert, two British officers, Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, join forces to bamboozle their iron-fisted captors. To stave off despair and boredom, Jones takes a handmade Ouija board and fakes elaborate saeances for his fellow prisoners. Word gets around camp, and one day, a Turkish officer approaches Jones with a query: Could Jones contact the spirit world to find a vast treasure rumored to be buried nearby? Jones, a trained lawyer, and Hill, a brilliant magician, use the Ouija board--and their keen understanding of the psychology of deception--to build a trap for the Turkish officers that will ultimately lead them to freedom. The Confidence Men is the story of the only known con game played for a good cause--and of a profound but unlikely friendship. Had it not been for "the Great War," Jones, the Oxford-educated son of a British lord, and Hill, a mechanic from an Australian sheep farm, would never have met. But in pain, loneliness, hunger, and isolation, they formed a powerful emotional and intellectual alliance that saved both of their lives. Margalit Fox brings her "nose for interesting facts, the ability to constructa taut narrative arc, and a Dickens-level gift for concisely conveying personality" (Kathryn Schulz, New York) to this gripping tale of psychological strategy that is rife with cunning, danger, and moments of high farce that rival anything in Catch-22"--
format_category_or
Books
format_or
Book
id
3344d3ca-3d3a-0744-c3b9-e8f901d1cf22
isbn
9781984853844
itype_or
ADULT BOOK
last_indexed
2024-04-19T04:57:34.127Z
lexile_score
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literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_or
940.472 Fox
owning_library_or
Case Memorial Library
owning_location_or
Case Memorial Library
primary_isbn
9781984853844
publishDate
2021
publisher
Random House
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Escaped prisoners of war -- Great Britain -- Biography
Escaped prisoners of war -- Turkey -- Biography
Hill, C. W. -- (Cedric Waters), -- 1891-1975
Jones, E. H. -- (Elias Henry), -- 1883-1942
Prisoner-of-war camps -- Turkey -- Yozgat (Yozgat İli)
Prisoner-of-war escapes -- Turkey -- History -- 20th century
World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
title_display
The confidence men : how two prisoners of war engineered the most remarkable escape in history
title_full
The confidence men : how two prisoners of war engineered the most remarkable escape in history / Margalit Fox
title_short
The confidence men
title_sub
how two prisoners of war engineered the most remarkable escape in history
topic_facet
Escaped prisoners of war
Hill, C. W
History
Jones, E. H
Prisoner-of-war camps
Prisoner-of-war escapes
Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
World War, 1914-1918

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ils:.b26731435BookBooksFirst editionEnglishRandom House©2021xvi, 329 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

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