We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance

by David Howarth

Book Overview

We Die Alone recounts one of the most exciting escape stories to emerge from the challenges and miseries of World War II. In March 1943, a team of expatriate Norwegian commandos sailed from northern... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599210630
• ISBN13: 9781599210636
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A true story you'll never believe

There are few tales of epic endurance that can match this, in fact I find it hard to believe that anyone could have lived through this at all. I kept re-reading parts because I couldn't believe what I was reading. David Howarth's true story of the escape of Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian Saboteur, in the Spring of 1943 was a page turner, I kept wondering how it could possible get end up, and each time I thought things were as bad as they could get it got worse. It is a simple tale of escape and those brave souls who helped him make his way from Norway to neutral Sweden. In March 1943 Jan was part of group of 11 other men who travelled secretly to German held Norway in order to sabotage an airbase. However through an extraodinarily bad coincidence the contact they made there was with a man who betrayed them. Their boat was ambushed by the Germans the following morning, 30th of March. Interestingly there is the German news account of this ambush in the appendix at the back of the book and it does not tally well with the real event. Only Jan managed to escape from the ambush. The fate of the rest of his crew, which is only known in sketchy detail was horrific so his decision to try flee rather than surrender proved the right thing to do. However this left him alone on a bleak tiny island in the Norwegian Sounds with his toe shot off in the freezing arctic spring. The next two months he swam through icy seas, got caught in blizzards and avalanches and finally too injured to carry on himself, was carried by partisan Norwegians to Sweden. I don't know what is more incredible about this story or this man. His will was astonishing. For one week he was left alone on a deserted plateau alone with almost no food, frost bitten feet and wet clothes. When he was finally found again he had to endure a further two weeks living alone on the plateau with only occassional visitors.I have read a lot of epic survival stories in my time - of Shackleton, and Scott and their epic journeys, but these men were generally part of a group and if nothing else may draw strength from their companions. For much of Jan's trip he was alone, and very often so weak and vulnerable his survival while others worked for his survival, very often for days at a time he was vulnerable and alone and with no hope that anyone would come and rescue him, yet he survived. Each time men came to him expecting to find him dead and he wasn't - he was clinging to life. This is such a powerful story, and well told. I don't think you could read it and remain unmoved.

a survival classic

first read this incredible tale of one man's refusal to die alone forty years ago--have been recommending to people ever since. jan baalsrud--a norwegian patriot during wwII--captured my imagination in the page's of david howarth's riveting book, and his story of survival under the relentless pursuit of the nazi's, is maybe the best to come out of that war. page after page, the twists and turns, the chance meetings and narrow escapes, the unrelenting suspense...a book you simply can't put down. and written well enough that it doesn't matter if you're a seventh grader, as i was four decades ago, or a senior citizen, as i'm rapidly becoming. its just a great read. you'll never forget jan baalsrud..guaranteed.

Too good for fiction

This astounding account of survival gives the reader a perspective Americans are not generally familiar with--life within a country occupied by a ruthless enemy. Jan Baalsrud's uncanny survival story is told within the context of the north Norwegian underground resistance, and in that account is as inspiring as Soldiers of the Night and other volumes devoted entirely to the European resistance to the nazis. The only thing more terrifying than the German occupation forces are the impossible Arctic conditions Baalsrud and those who helped him to escape somehow survived. This true story is first-rate adventure and is highly recommended.

You'll be hard pressed to find a better survival story

Not at all a book about WWII combat action, We Die Alone is a gripping account of a Norwegian commandos race for the Swedish border agoinst the Nazis and some horrificlly overwhelming odds. This one is a fast-paced page turner, as time after time it might seem as though the escape is complete and then the story throws another twist that truly turns this story of escape into an unforgettable epic. Anyone who enjoys survival or adventure or even war reading will likely cherish this story that tells a true story of all three of those subjects. It also proves to be a superb discussion of the Nazi occupation and ruling of Norway, an area of WWII that is often forgotten but was in reality a key area for the Germans and one the British truly paid for losing. I can't say anything truly negative about this book.