This 1953 Hardback is a fifth impression from the same year of publication in 1953. The book is in very good condition with some slight spotting to page edges. The original  dustjacket is almost whole with a small piece missing from the back and a small tear at the top on the front.  The book features the genuine signature of Airey Neave, mounted underneath an original pencil drawing portrait by Steve Teasdale. This all goes to make this classic book highly collectable.
Sent to France in February 1940 with 1st Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery, he was wounded and captured by the Germans at Calais on 23 May 1940. He was imprisoned at Stalag XX-A near Thorn in German-occupied western Poland. 
In April 1941 he escaped from Thorn with Norman Forbes. They were captured near Ilow while trying to enter Soviet-controlled Poland and were briefly in the hands of the Gestapo. In May, they were both sent to Oflag IV-C (often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location).
He  made his first attempt to escape from Colditz on 28 August 1941 disguised as a German NCO. He did not get out of the castle as his hastily contrived German uniform (made from a Polish army tunic and cap painted with scenery paint) was rendered bright green under the prison searchlights. Together with Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn he made a second attempt on 5 January 1942, again in disguise.
Better uniforms and escape route (they made a quick exit from a theatrical production using the trap door beneath the stage) got them out of the prison and by train and on foot they travelled to Leipzig and Ulm and finally reached the border to Switzerland .Via France, Spain and Gibraltar, Neave returned to England in April 1942. Neave was the first British officer to escape from Colditz Castle.[7] On 12 May 1942, shortly after his return to England, he was decorated with the Military Cross.