Although The Traitors is a work of fantasy, it owes an enormous debt of inspiration to these real-life prisoner-of-war stories from the Second World War: Boldness Be My Friend, by Richard Pape; Colditz, by Pat Reid; Dare To Be Free, by W.B. Thomas; Wingless Victory, by Anthony Richardson; Farewell Campo 12, by James Hargest; Reach For The Sky, by Paul Brickhill; The Wooden Horse, by Eric Williams; and Colditz: The German Story, by Reinhold Eggers. I heartily recommend these fantastic reads to anyone searching for further heroic escapes and general derring-do.

Getting a book published is always a team effort, and I’d like to thank everyone at Scholastic, my agent Sam Copeland, and Matt Drew, who helped bring the Dial to life in the early days of its construction. Finally, my love and heartfelt gratitude to Lindsay, for painting my world anew in such glorious colour.