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A review by specialk136
We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth
4.0
As stories of survival go, this one is incredible. It's the story of Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian spy who was the lone survivor in a botched anti-Nazi mission during WWII. Pursued by the Nazis, Jan has to rely on the charity of others to keep him alive. Jan changes your perspective on what you thought a human being can actually endure. Left alone on a mountainside for weeks, buried alive - twice, amputating nine of his own toes - it's beyond comprehension.
The hearty, tough Norwegians who help Jan are the true heroes of the story - risking their lives to keep a man they've never met safe. My favorite quote comes from a 72-year old man who rowed Jan ten miles across freezing waters: "In my day, it was wooden ships and iron men, and what is it now? Iron ships and a lot of wooden men."
The hearty, tough Norwegians who help Jan are the true heroes of the story - risking their lives to keep a man they've never met safe. My favorite quote comes from a 72-year old man who rowed Jan ten miles across freezing waters: "In my day, it was wooden ships and iron men, and what is it now? Iron ships and a lot of wooden men."