The March on London

Uncovers one of the last great secrets of World War II - a gripping tale of double-dealing and treachery that nearly sabotaged the Allied offensive in the Ardennes.

This fascinating history of a clandestine German plan to spark a mass prisoner-of-war uprising during the last winter of the war should be essential reading for fans of Ben Macintyre, Antony Beevor, Max Hastings, Guy Walters, and Helen Fry.

By December 1944, there were over a quarter of a million German soldiers imprisoned in Britain, guarded by those not young enough or fit enough to be on the front lines.

For years these Germans had been well-behaved, but the arrival of many more young, fanatical Nazis - combined with rumours of German victories in the Battle of the Bulge - led to increasing lapses in discipline.

It was within this tinderbox that the German High Command began planning for their agents, spread across the most important camps in the UK, to lead a mass outbreak coinciding with Hitler's last great offensive in the West - and to march on London.

Charles Whiting's thoroughly researched account - based on interviews and writings from German POWs and British guards - uncovers the true story behind this remarkably bold plan: who was involved, what was intended, why it was ultimately abandoned, and the brutal repercussions that followed. This little-known episode of the Second World War makes for a gripping and essential read.