True stories of exciting escapes and rescues have always been popular. This encyclopaedia presents escapes and rescues from the earliest times to the late-1990s in an A-Z format. Roger Howard describes the events themselves, the reasons why they were successful, and what motivated the escapees. Some of the escapes described are simple but ingenious, such as that of Hugo Grotius, the Dutch jurist and political philosopher. In 1619 Grotius had been condemned to life imprisonment, but he escaped in 1621 concealed in a small chest less than four feet in length. The entries relate to topics as varied as Colditz, John McVicar, the Russian Revolution, Stalin, and the Titanic. Also covered are instances of people who evaded capture altogether and escapees who, like Lord Lucan, have "disappeared".