How this book escaped being turned into an escape-thriller movie eludes me. This book stands apart from the rest of the Mesopotamian-memoir genre since it is, as far as I can tell, the only memoir written by any of the "other ranks." Because it was written from the enlisted man's perspective, it offers a glimpse at what was only anecdotally referenced by other officers who heard about the horrors, or momentarily witnessed the horrors of the long march from Kut into Anatolia. The percentages of NCOs and enlisted ranks who perished through mistreatment, neglect or worse, is absolutely horrifying.
However, what makes this book such an interesting read is P. W. Long's perspective. He was quite adept at languages, which may have been his saving grace over his captivity. Yet the story of Long and one of his long-time prison companions, Micky, are worthy of a movie. The number of times they both tried to escape and failed, and yet through luck, and Long's linguistic abilities, ultimately were able to turn a bad situation into something more tolerable is absolutely amazing.
The book does end somewhat abruptly, which is why I didnt give it 5 stars. I would have liked to have read about Long's story in the immediate post-war era. THe book offers the military historian a good glimpse at a number of Turkish prisoner-of-war camps, and how they were manned and functioned.
HIghly recommended, and hopefully some enterprising movie director will read this and turn this story into something enjoyable for a broader audience. ( )