author
John Alan Lyde Caunter
1889–1981
Best known for a vivid World War I prison-escape memoir, this British army officer turned firsthand experience into a tense, fast-moving narrative. His life also ranged far beyond the page, from military service to a reputation as an early shark angler off the British coast.
1 Audiobook
13 Days: The Chronicle of an Escape from a German Prison
by John Alan Lyde Caunter
About the author
Born in Somerset in 1889, John Alan Lyde Caunter was a British Army officer who served with the Gloucestershire Regiment and later became a brigadier. During the First World War he was captured by German forces in 1914, and his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp became the basis of his best-known book, 13 Days: The Chronicle of an Escape from a German Prison.
Caunter's writing stands out because it comes straight from lived experience. 13 Days is remembered as a direct, personal account of captivity, escape, and endurance rather than a fictionalized war story, which gives it a strong sense of immediacy for modern readers.
Beyond his military career and memoir, he is also noted in biographical sources as a pioneer shark angler off the British coast. He died in 1981, leaving behind a life story that linked service, adventure, and memoir in an unusually memorable way.