The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History (Hardback)

Fox, a former senior obituary writer for The New York Times and the author of three previous books, unspools Jones and Hill's delightfully elaborate scheme in nail-biting episodes that advance like a narrative Rube Goldberg machine, gradually leading from Yozgad to freedom by way of secret codes, a hidden camera, buried clues, fake suicides and a lot of ingenious mumbo jumbo. At moments, The Confidence Men has the high gloss of a story polished through years of telling and retelling. * The New York Times *
The Confidence Men couldn't have come along at a better time.This story of two unlikely con artists - young British officers who use a Ouija board to escape from a Turkish prisoner-of-war camp - is a true delight, guaranteed to lift the spirits of anyone eager to forget today's realities and lose oneself in a beautifully written tale of an exciting and deeply moving real-life caper. -- Lynne Olson, author of Madame Fourcade's Secret War
Margalit Fox is one of the premier narrative storytellers we have today, and The Confidence Men is a wonderfully entertaining brew of history, thrills, and ingenuity, one that highlights the rare occasion when con artistry is employed for the greater public good. -- Sarah Weinman, author of The Real Lolita and editor of Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit & Obsession
Praise for Conan Doyle for the Defence: 'Like a good murder mystery, Conan Doyle for the Defence is a fast-paced read that twists and turns with the panache of a Holmes short story.' - -- Paula Byrne * The Times *
This is a first-class book: pacy, insightful and lucid -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times *
lucid and engaging -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *
[Fox] has researched her fascinating, fast-paced story with impressive acuity, sketching an informative portrait of the Edwardian mindset. * Mail on Sunday *
An engrossing book -- Nick Rennison * Daily Mail *