Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons

A photographic assignment in Russia sends Henry C. Mahoney from Brighton toward Warsaw as the First World War begins. His planned trip becomes an account of British civilian internment in Germany, presented by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot. Published in 1917, the book covers experiences at Wesel, Sennelager, Klingelputz and Ruhleben, with chapters on solitary confinement, a secret trial and the organisation of camp life.

At Sennelager, the account turns to forced labour, poor sanitation and the brief relief of bathing in a stream under guard. Cleaning the military hospital exposes the prisoners to conditions that contradict official claims about hygiene. Mahoney also recalls the consideration shown by an earlier camp official, whose flower garden becomes one of their assignments. Readers interested in wartime captivity will find a personal record of daily duties and treatment within the prison system, written from a British internee's perspective.