Why read Captured by the Enemy?

If you have ever wished you could sit across the table from a quiet World War II veteran and hear what really happened, this is that conversation.

Captured by the Enemy is the true story of Carl Leroy Good, a young soldier from Kansas thrown into the chaos of World War II. You follow him from his first amphibious landing to the roar of engines over North Africa to the pounding surf of a second amphibious landing in Sicily. You stand beside him as friends fall, as orders change by the hour, and as the war closes its hand around him.

When Carl is captured in Sicily and taken prisoner, his world narrows to barbed wire, hunger, and survival. Guards insist he will never see home again. For a time, he believes them. Then an explosion tears through the camp. Wounded, starving, and exhausted, Carl decides he will not die for the enemy’s satisfaction.

Transferred to Camp 59 outside Servigliano, Italy, he grows weaker as the days grind on. One night in September 1943, a mass escape shatters the prison routine. Carl climbs through a hole in the wall and disappears into the Italian mountains. Below him, German patrols sweep the valleys and roads. Above him stretch nine long months of hiding, running, trusting strangers, and waking each day to the same question: will I live long enough to see home again.

This book does not just summarize his journey. It puts you there. Through interviews, family recordings, wartime reports, military records, and years of careful research, Captured by the Enemy brings Carl’s story to life in a style that reads like a novel while staying true to the facts. You ride in the jeep with him. You feel the cold in the prison barracks. You hear the fear and the faith in his thoughts as he makes impossible choices.

Unlike many war stories, this one stays close to the way most civilian soldiers actually spoke. The language is clean, the violence is never sensational, and the focus is on courage, loyalty, and the quiet acts of kindness that helped Carl survive. It is a powerful read for adults and also fitting for advanced younger readers who are ready to learn about World War II.

Readers have compared the experience of this book to beloved World War II narratives like Unbroken. At its heart, though, Captured by the Enemy is something deeply personal. It is the story of one man who never sought the spotlight, who carried his memories quietly, and who still deserves to be remembered.

If you care about true stories, about honoring the past, and about finding hope in the middle of hardship, this book was written for you.

You can buy your copy by clicking here: Captured by the Enemy: The True Story of POW Carl Leroy Good