This in-depth historical study reveals fascinating new insight into the famous Wooden Horse escape of three Allied POWs from a Nazi prison camp. In 1943, three British prisoners of war plotted a daring and ingenious escape from Stalag Luft III by making use of a hollowed-out gymnastic vaulting horse. A year before the events of The Great Escape—which would take place at the same camp—Lieutenants Michael Codner, Eric Williams, and Oliver Philpot executed the plan that Williams later recounted in his classic memoir The Wooden Horse. Now Robert Laplander presents a revealing new account in this comprehensive study of Stalag Luft III and the many attempts at escape that occurred there during the Second World War. As Laplander explains, Williams' memoir was impeded by both a lack of necessary historical scope and regulations of the Crown. In The True Story of the Wooden Horse, Laplander makes use of newly released official documents and eye-witnesses reports. Supplemented by illustrations, including shots of a full-scale replica of the vaulting horse, this volume presents an exhaustive account of the escape in its entirety, set in the context of the camp’s history.

It is over fifty years since the critics of the day acclaimed The Wooden Horse as a superbly told story of the most ingenious and daring escape of the Second World War. Millions of readers agreed, and the book became a modern classic. This revised and expanded edition tells the tale. The escape itself was conceived on classical lines. The Greeks built a wooden horse and by means of it got into the city of Troy; in 1943 two British officers built a wooden horse and by means of it got out of a German prison camp. Together with a third companion, they were the only British prisoners ever to escape and reach England from this camp, though many tried. It was Stalag Luft III, designed especially to hold the Germans' most prized captives – Allied aircrew – and considered to be escape-proof. The break from the camp itself is only part of the story. Once outside the wire the escapers were still faced with the problem of getting out of Germany. Fugitives in the midst of a watchful enemy population, they had many close shaves when disaster threatened to overwhelm them – adventures which the reader shares to the full. The fantastic nature of this enterprise, the patience, determination and endurance, above all the steel nerve it demanded from an undernourished physique, are rendered the more impressive by the manner of the telling. The characters are so surely drawn that they could not but be real. Throughout the book runs a vein of humour which alone made those days bearable. The warmth of human companionship born of privation, fear and a common purpose is vividly portrayed.

In graphic novel format, tells how Greek goddesses began the Trojan War, and how it was ended by the Greeks with an ingenious plan.

Discover the essential thinking tools you’ve been missing with The Great Mental Models series by Shane Parrish, New York Times bestselling author and the mind behind the acclaimed Farnam Street blog and “The Knowledge Project” podcast. This first book in the series is your guide to learning the crucial thinking tools nobody ever taught you. Time and time again, great thinkers such as Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have credited their success to mental models–representations of how something works that can scale onto other fields. Mastering a small number of mental models enables you to rapidly grasp new information, identify patterns others miss, and avoid the common mistakes that hold people back. The Great Mental Models: Volume 1, General Thinking Concepts shows you how making a few tiny changes in the way you think can deliver big results. Drawing on examples from history, business, art, and science, this book details nine of the most versatile, all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making and productivity. This book will teach you how to: Avoid blind spots when looking at problems. Find non-obvious solutions. Anticipate and achieve desired outcomes. Play to your strengths, avoid your weaknesses, … and more. The Great Mental Models series demystifies once elusive concepts and illuminates rich knowledge that traditional education overlooks. This series is the most comprehensive and accessible guide on using mental models to better understand our world, solve problems, and gain an advantage.

For Greek myth fans, those who can’t get enough of the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, and readers who have aged out of Rick Riordan, this classroom staple and mythology classic is perfect for learning about the ancient myths! As the gods and goddesses of Olympus scheme, the ancient world is thrown into turmoil when Helen, the most beautiful woman in all of Greece, is stolen away by her Trojan love. Inflamed by jealousy, the Greek king seeks lethal vengeance and sends his black war ships to descend on the city of Troy. In the siege that follows, history’s greatest heroes, from Ajax to Achilles to Odysseus, are forged in combat, and the brutal costs of passion, pride, and revenge must be paid. In the end, the whims of the gods, the cunning of the warriors, and a great wooden horse will decide who emerges victorious. Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, is one of the greatest adventure stories of all time and Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling of the classic saga embodies all of the astonishing drama, romance, and intrigue of ancient Greece. Don’t miss The Wanderings of Odysseus, the companion to Black Ships Before Troy, and follow Odysseus on his adventure home. This book has been selected as a Common Core State Standards Text Exemplar (Grades 6-8, Stories) in Appendix B.

Whilst there have been many accounts from specific escapees who took part in the famed Wooden Horse escape from Stalag Luft III, there have been few objective historical studies of the camp as a whole. Many attempts at escape characterised its history, and the story of its establishment is a fascinating one. Now, historian Robert Laplander attempts to provide a comprehensive history of the camp and compound, framed around the ingenious Wooden Horse escape.??The author describes Eric Williams' classic book The Wooden Horse as merely an introduction to the escape, arguing that its creation was impeded by both a lack of necessary historical scope and regulations of the Crown. Today, however, there is much more material to take advantage of, including official documents that have been released and eye-witnesses that have spoken out Ð enough to justify this re-appraisal of the events at Stalag Luft III. The author's rigourous approach to the subject matter is evident from the outset. Supplemented throughout by a range of fascinating illustrations, including shots of a full scale replica of the vaulting horse used which the author constructed specifically for the purposes of understanding the logistics of the escape yet further, the book represents a competent and exhaustive account of the escape in its entirety, set solidly in context in order to provide an overview of the camps history from establishment to demise.

"During the Trojan War, the Trojans receive the gift of a huge wooden horse from the Greeks. Thinking the gift means that they have won the war, the Trojans celebrate. But what they dont realize is that Greek soldiers are hidden inside the huge horsewaiting to attack!"--Amazon.com.

A retelling of how the Greeks used a wooden horse to win the ten-year-long Trojan War.

Short-listed for the 2020 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection “As profound as it is lyrical. The stories are music.” —Marcela Davison Avilés, NPR In Ayse Papatya Bucak’s dreamlike narratives, dead girls recount gas explosions and a chess-playing automaton falls in love. A student stops eating, and no one knows whether her act is personal or political. A Turkish wrestler, a hero in the East, is seen as a brute in the West. And in the masterful title story, the Greek god Apollo confronts his personal history to memorialize, and make sense of, generations of war. A joy and a provocation, Bucak’s stories confront the nature of memory with humor and myth, performance and authenticity.