This was absolutely one of the best books of 2025 for me; not only was it fascinating, it was as enthralling as any spy novel. The achievements of the Allies during World War II, and the bravery of not only the servicemen and women, but the civilians who risked so much to aid them, will never be anything but astonishing. I've already recommended it to so many people, and will continue to do so.

This book started out with a bang, and then it slowed down. While I still enjoyed the book, I took breaks from reading because it became tedious and at times hard to follow. There are many moving pieces in the story and it was difficult to keep track of them all. I found myself rereading passages to really get a hold of what was happening. It is a fascinating look at the ingenuity of people during a dark and difficult time in history.

Who knew that Monopoly games were sent to Allied prisoners of Germans and certain set were marked and hide escape tools such as small saws and maps. The premise of this WWII nonfiction work will pull in many readers but I found the writing to be labored for the first 150 pages of setup. The government negotiations with manufacturing companies goes into way too much detail. That said when the narrative shifts to actual escapes and the risks Resistance fighters took is riveting. Oddly, despite the title, the use of Monopoly games is not given much detail leading to escapes. Readers will pick up the book but may find much of this story not that thrilling.

What happens when you combine a classic game, Allied POWs, and members of the French resistance? It’s this book that tells the story of Allied airmen escaping thanks to escape tools hidden in a Monopoly board. This narrative covers how the escape version game was developed (known as Monopoly X), how it arrived in and was utilized in camps, tells of skilled escapes, and the resistance members who helped them by running escape lines. Intermixed is the story of a traitor who intersected with all.

What makes this work unique is the author personally knew many of the key players, often for decades, before the story of the escapes came to light and Monopoly’s role within. And he used that knowledge and interviews with them to write this work. That makes all the unique storylines connect well when they might not otherwise have. Very worth reading and I learned a few facts about the POW camps I hadn’t in other books.