“In Eleven Months to Freedom, the prolific military historian Dwight Messimer provides a fascinating look at the career of Erich Killinger, the First World War German naval observer and aviator, and Second World War Luftwaffe officer later charged with war crimes. The book comprises fourteen chronological chapters enhanced by endnotes, a fine selection of photographs of ships, people, and artifacts, as well as indispensable maps showing locations in the Baltics, Siberia, and elsewhere. The author has also made excellent use of documents in the vast collection of the US National Archives…. Dwight Messimer's Eleven Months to Freedom will appeal to readers interested in World War I, POW escapes, or risk-filled tales of high adventure along the little studied German Foreign Office escape pipeline.” —Michigan War Studies

"Messimer's account is lively, often gripping, as befits what is certainly one of the great escape stories in history, and is well worth reading." —The NYMAS Review

"... a very entertaining read and is highly recommended. It would make a great movie or TV-miniseries." —The Northern Mariner

"A simply riveting read from cover to cover, Eleven Months to Freedom is an exceptional account that will prove to be an enduringly popular and appreciated addition to the growing library of World War I memoirs and biographies." —The Midwest Book Review

"Anyone looking for an entertaining and enlightening read on an interesting topic will find it in Messimer's work." —Militargeschichtlichen Zeitschrift

"Eleven Months to Freedom documents the near-impossible tale of a true escaper. For readers interested in an individual account of life as a prisoner of war and evader, Messimer has written an exciting book." —Naval Historical Foundation

"Killinger's perspectives, opinions, and emotions, which Messimer explains and contextualizes well, reflect similar experiences by other soldiers of the First World War. At the same time, this remarkable case is a window into the lives of soldiers and a generation that experienced both world wars. Through his research, writing style, and historical approach, Messimer offers a work that is as enjoyable to read as it is informative. A general audience will find this work easy to follow, whereas more knowledgeable readers will still find value in the specific details that Messimer incorporates." —H-War

"The author expertly weaves together the facts of Killinger's odyssey thereby producing a work that is both informative and eminently entertaining." —Military Heritage Magazine

"It is an informative and detailed work, chock full of inspiring tales of those who struggled both on and off the battlefield." —Military Heritage

"Messimer has marshalled his resources well and tells Killinger's incredible story with panache. He presents a highly readable book with vignettes of the context in which the intrepid German naval aviator made his escape." —Warships International Fleet Review

"Through the story of German naval aviator Ernst Killinger, Messimer takes us through a world of daring escapes, secret pipelines, forged documents, calculated risks, dangerous indiscretions, and reckless gambles. Messimer's book is confirmation of the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Even the most ardent students of the Great War will learn a great deal from this book. Killinger is the very epitome of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's term, 'a committed escaper.'"—Richard L. DiNardo, author of Breakthrough: The Gorlice-Tarnow Campaign, 1915

"Dwight Messimer reclaims a lost story of World War I: that of German midshipman Erich Killinger. This well-researched and taut account brings to life a harrowing story of survival and humanity."—Cathryn J. Prince, author of An American Daredevil: The Extraordinary Life of Richard Halliburton, the World's First Celebrity Travel Writer and Shot from the Sky: American POWs in Switzerland

"Dwight R. Messimer has the great gift of vividly describing the history of ordinary men long forgotten. Their lives, however, shed an interesting light on the fate of millions who fought in the Great War like themselves."—Prof. Dr. Michael Epkenhans, chief historian at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr at Potsdam, Germany; co-editor of Jutland: World War I's Greatest Naval Battle

"Dwight Messimer, an expert on World War I history, tells Killinger's story in great detail, giving the reader a true taste of the daily odds an escapee faces on such a journey. Anyone who appreciates the risks of an odyssey like Killinger's will relish reading this account."—Linda Goetz Holmes, author of Guests of the Emperor: The Secret History of Japan's Mukden POW Camp

"Books about individuals, especially Germans during World War I, are rare in English, even in German. Dwight Messimer is obviously expert in the German language, an accomplished historian, and a seasoned researcher and writer. Eleven Months to Freedom is a great and exciting read."—Robert C. Doyle, author of A Prisoner's Duty: Great Escapes in U.S. Military History

“Much narrative is devoted to Killinger’s improvised travel from Siberia to Mukden (Manchuria), a journey across the United States to Baltimore, where he conned his way aboard a Norwegian freighter, and eventually returned to Germany. The book also covers Killinger’s World War II Luftwaffe service, which led to his conviction and imprisonment for non-lethal war crimes. Eleven Months to Freedom: A German POW’s Unlikely Escape from Siberia in 1915 is recommended.” —Over the Front