Monday, September 7, 2009

The Long Walk


I just finished a book that has gripped me for days now.
The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz

Of course, it does have to do with Russia AND World War II...so of course it peaks my interest.

But this is what the Amazon.com synopsis says:
"Cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army in 1939 during the German-Soviet partition of Poland and was sent to the Siberian Gulag along with other captive Poles, Finns, Ukranians, Czechs, Greeks, and even a few English, French, and American unfortunates who had been caught up in the fighting.

A year later, he and six comrades from various countries escaped from a labor camp in Yakutsk and made their way, on foot, thousands of miles south to British India, where Rawicz reenlisted in the Polish army and fought against the Germans. The Long Walk recounts that adventure, which is surely one of the most curious treks in history."

These men walked over 4000 miles without supplies through Siberia on FOOT and in the Himilayas on a trek to freedom.

Is it a true story? There are doubts to be sure.
But the story had me by the throat and I can't stop thinking about it.
It is a book that is gripping and fantastic.

One of my favorite sections in the book said this:
"In the shadow of death we grew closer together than ever before. No man would admit to despair. No man spoke of fear. The only thought spoken out again and again was that there must be water soon. All our hope was in this."

It has been out of print for quite awhile, but this year was reprinted.
It was a fantastic read. I recommend it!

1 comment:

Natalie H. said...

Thanks for the recomendation. I am going to see if they have this book at our library tomorrow. I recently finished a fantastic historical fiction (more truth than fiction) called Follow the River by James Alexander Thom. Check out the description and reviews on Amazon. I finished reading it in a couple of days, a task I had formerly thought impossible as the mother of a 16 month old :)!