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Loading... We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance (1955)by David Howarth
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A biography of Jan Baalsrud. Jan was a Norwegian who was a British trained commando in WWII. A group of 10 left the Shetlands and landed in Norway to disrupt the Nazi's who had entrenched themselves. Jan's group was betrayed and he was the only survivor. Through amputating his own toes and suffering the interminable cold, he finally was taken by charitable Sami (Northern Scandinavians), who were fired at, across Finland into Sweden. He found the Norwegians very gracious and they helped him even though to do so put themselves and their families in peril. A great survival against all odds story. 257 pages ( ) Not a very good title for an excellent book. The title sounds like the gruesome reminder of our earthly end. But, I think it was probably meant to say that "ALONE--we die". As the book is as much about the people who helped Jan, as the man himself. We all need people in this life, and it is never more apparent as when we are in grave trouble. This book will renew your faith in your fellow man. The film, "The 12th Man", which was based on the book, is also excellent. The Publisher's review on the book jacket compares this saga favorably to Shackleton's miraculous survival story at the South Pole, and to Krakauer's Mt. Everest adventure tale "Into Thin Air". I wouldn't go that far, and would recommend both Krakauer's book and Caroline Alexander's "The Endurance" over this. But those books are both highly regarded adventure stories, and coming in third to those two is no slight. "We Die Alone" is still a drammatic story of hardship and endurance, detailing the escape to Sweden by Norweigan commando Jan Baalsrud in WW II. A resistance fighter in occupied Norway, Baalsrud is reported to the Nazi's, and alone and ill-equipped, struggles across the frozen land to find his way to freedom. We Die Alone, by David Howarth (pp 231). This is the story of a lone survivor of a WWII team of Norwegian saboteurs who escaped German pursuers, survived severe frostbite, and stayed alive several weeks while immobilized and effectively abandoned mid-rescue sheltering in a snow cave. His story was so fantastic that it was not initially believed, until verified by some of the Norwegians he met along the way. Amazing story. no reviews | add a review
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Jan Baalsrud's escape from Nazi-occupied arctic Norway is one of the most exciting escape narratives to emerge from the challenges and miseries of World War II chronicles . In March 1943, a team of expatriate Norwegian commandos sailed from northern England for Nazi-occupied arctic Norway to organize and supply the Norwegian resistance. But they were betrayed and the Nazis ambushed them. Only one man survived - Jan Baalsrud. This is the incredible and gripping story of his escape. Frostbitten and snowblind, pursued by the Nazis, he dragged himself on until he reached a small arctic village. He was near death, delirious, and a virtual cripple. But the villagers, at mortal risk to themselves, were determined to save him, and - through impossible feats - they did. We Die Alone is an astonishing true story of heroism and endurance. Like Salvomir Rawicz's, The Long Walk, it is also an unforgettable portrait of the determination of the human spirit. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.547243History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- Military History Of World War II Prisoners of war; medical and social services Prisioner-of-War CampsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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