Solitary Confinement

The courage and the intellectual integrity of Christopher Burney are far beyond what most of us would expect of ourselves. - Frank Kermode

Arrested as a spy by the Nazis in 1942, Christopher Burney was held in solitary confinement for 526 days in a prison in Paris. This book is his account of how he managed not only to maintain his mental and emotional health but to develop the resilience he later needed to survive in Buchenwald concentration camp. A psychological masterpiece.

Parachuted into France as a British secret agent, Christopher Burney was arrested by the Gestapo and thrown into a solitary confinement cell in a prison outside Paris. There he spent 526 days in complete isolation. With little human contact and nothing to distract him, Burney developed a mental and spiritual regime that enabled him not just to survive but to develop an internal resilience that enabled him to survive his subsequent time in Buchenwald concentration camp.

Out of print for over 40 years and virtually unknown outside the U.K., Solitary Confinement has quietly developed a reputation as a modern masterpiece of contemplative literature. As the critic Frank Kermode wrote, “The courage and the intellectual integrity Christopher Burney are far beyond what most of us would expect of ourselves.”

“Readers who are genuinely inquisitive about their own souls and about the prospect for our species should read Solitary Confinement.” — Rebecca West