In the Spring of 1944, Ned Handy's B-24 bomber was shot down on a mission into Germany. Handy and his fellow survivors were sent to Stalag 17, a crowded, disease-ridden POW camp that held thousands of Allied soldiers and operated by its own cruel rules.

From the beginning, Handy set out to escape, relentlessly digging a tunnel underneath a barracks. As he dug, Handy forged friendships and uneasy alliances, survived Gestapo searches and a vicious beating, helped save the lives of wanted men and befriended a German guard. When the moment came for Handy to escape, fate would intervene as he and his fellow prisoners began a brutal march West--towards freedom or death....

This is a powerful, moving memoir of an ordeal that brought out the best and the worst in men. A must-read for World II buffs and anyone interested in the true nature of war, The Flame Keepers is a story of suffering, camaraderie, horror and survival--and one young man's awakening to the power of humanity itself.

""Every citizen should read this book to understand the sacrifices our prisoners of war made for our freedom.""--Ross Perot

""Deserves a permanent place in the whole collective telling of the Last Big War.""
--Samuel Hynes, author of The Soldiers' Tale: Bearing Witness to Modern War

""This wonderful book has stirred me more profoundly than any other World War II memoir I have read.""--George McGovern, former Senator and World War II B-24 pilot

""A powerful and moving story, brilliantly told…non-stop reading.""
--Elaine Pagels, author of Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas