The Escape Artist

Excellent … thrilling … Freedland’s book is rich in the kind of details that haunt you long after you have turned the last page – Sunday TimesA brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information - and misinformation – Yuval Noah HarariA magnificent book. I could scarcely breathe at some points. What a tribute to its extraordinary hero, and it’s such an important and necessary story to read … I can’t praise it too highly. What an achievement – Philip PullmanAn immediate classic of Holocaust literature. Superbly researched and written, it is both a gripping story and deeply moving, I literally could not put it down – Antony BeevorImmersive, shattering, and, ultimately redemptive … An epic of terror and endurance … Written with Freedland’s page-turning, gripping, hard-edged immediacy, The Escape Artist is profound in thought, boundless in humanity, an immediate modern classic – Simon SchamaAwe-inspiring, exciting and poignant, this is a thrilling read, a piece of redemptive storytelling and a work of important Holocaust historical research: Freedland has given Rudolf Vrba his rightful place in history - and in the process written a book that I couldn’t put down – Simon Sebag MontefioreThe Escape Artist is marvellous. It is original, meticulous and utterly compelling - and ultimately a deeply tragic tale – Philippe SandsA must-read stand-out piece of history … This is Freedland at his finest … It is both a celebration of the extraordinary will, courage and resilience of the hero - Rudi Vrba - and an all too prescient warning of how hard it is to wake up the world to things it would prefer not to see – Emily MaitlisA work of the highest quality about an astonishing man. It is gripping from start to finish, searingly, shocking, revelatory and deeply moving - the more so because there is no false note, no striving for effect. The research is prodigious and the complexities deftly woven into the narrative … A profoundly troubling and important work – Jonathan DimblebyA masterpiece of page-turning history: an escape story that is also a fearless exploration of some of the most profound questions that face humanity. Rudolf Vrba’s extraordinary testimony will deepen your understanding of the Holocaust - and compel you to think afresh about our own times, and the role of truth, denial and fragile memory. Magisterial – Matthew d’AnconaThe story of Vrba’s escape from Auschwitz, exquisitely told by Jonathan Freedland, soars like a thriller. Exhilarating, deeply moving and historically important – Simon ParkinPowerful, important, compelling and superbly told. This is a book that needs to be read – Bart van Es, bestselling author of The Cut Out GirlAn indispensable, unflinching, bone-hard book. Compelling reading – Howard JacobsonI read it with my heart beating fast, full of horror, rage, despair - and admiration for this potent demonstration of the stubborn resilience of the human spirit – Tracy ChevalierBrilliant – Julia NeubergerMeticulously researched … shocking but thrilling, and ultimately overwhelmingly inspiring – Daily MailAstonishing … An indispensable part of Holocaust history … Gripping – GuardianAn utterly gripping narrative, incorporating a restrained though harrowing picture of life in Auschwitz and a kind of heroic adventure story – ObserverSuch an important piece of history … This dramatic, compelling and deeply sensitive account raises issues around courage, agency and the credibility of facts that still resonate today – ‘Books of the Year’, The SpectatorThis really is an extraordinary book – The Times

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and former foreign correspondent. He has been named Columnist of the Year and Commentator of the Year and has won an Orwell Prize for Journalism. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View, as well as two popular podcasts, Politics Weekly America and Unholy, the latter alongside the journalist Yonit Levi. This is his fourth work of non-fiction, the most recent of which is the award-winning The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World. He has written nine thrillers, eight of them under the name Sam Bourne, including The Righteous Men which was a Sunday Times number one bestseller and has sold over two million copies worldwide. His new book The Traitors Circle is coming soon.