Chinnery, Philip The Kaiser's First POWs

In 1915, the German government published a book entitled 1915 in an attempt to portray the Germans as a civilized people who were destined to win the war, who would treat their prisoners with care and compassion. The Kaiser's First POWs is the first book to compare the "official" German view to the grim reality of captivity, as experienced by the prisoners. Dozens of original photos from 1915 tell the story as seen by German eyes. Compare them to the personal accounts from former prisoners who describe the reality of falling into the hands of the German Army and life as a prisoner of the Kaiser.By the end of the war, the Germans had taken approximately 2.8 million prisoners of war. This books describes the life and times of these prisoners and the manner in which the Germans dealt with the problems involved in accommodating them.

The author also describes the sanitary facilities and medical care for the prisoners in the camps, the labour columns and reprisals from the guards, the fight against the omnipresent boredom and finally the prisoners' constant striving for freedom, i.e. the prisoners' attempts to escape.