The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom

· Hachette UK
4.5
46 reviews
Ebook
288
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

'I hope The Long Walk will remain as a memorial to all those who live and die for freedom, and for all those who for many reasons could not speak for themselves'
Slavomir Rawicz

Slavomir Rawicz was a young Polish cavalry officer. On 19 November 1939 he was arrested by the Russians and after brutal interrogation he was sentenced to twenty-five years in a gulag.

After a three-month journey in the dead of winter to Siberia, life in a Soviet labour camp meant enduring hunger, extreme cold, untreated wounds and illnesses and facing the daily risk of arbitrary execution. Realising that to remain meant almost certain death, Rawicz, along with six companions, escaped. In June 1941, they crossed the trans-Siberian railway and headed south, climbing into Tibet and freedom in British India nine months later, in March 1942, having travelled over four thousand miles on foot through some of the harshest regions in the world, including the Gobi Desert, Tibet and the Himalayas.

First published in 1956, this is one of the greatest true stories of escape, adventure and survival against all odds.

In 2010, a film, The Way Back, based on the book, directed by six-time Academy Award-nominee Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Truman Show, and The Dead Poets Society) was released. It starred Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris.

Ratings and reviews

4.5
46 reviews
Adam
July 19, 2024
A good read but it's worth saying, no one can verify the authenticity of this story and there has been debate over whether it actually happened or not. There are parts of it that are certainly unbelievable.
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B & E Smart
June 11, 2020
An amazing story of courage and resilience. A real eye opener into what man can fave and still believe in good.
2 people found this review helpful
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Chris Rendchen
November 23, 2016
One fantastic read. Real courage. Real bravery. A real story. A MUST read.
1 person found this review helpful
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About the author

SLAVOMIR RAWICZ was born in Pinsk, Belarus, in 1915. After the war, he settled in Nottingham, England, where he worked as a handicrafts and woodworking instructor, a cabinet-maker and later as a technician in architectural ceramics at a school of art and design. He married an English woman, with whom he had five children. In 1975, after a heart attack, he retired and lived in the countryside until his death in 2004.

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