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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.
Audiofile
In the camps of the Siberian gulag, friends said it was hopeless. Nevertheless, in the spring of 1942 Slavomir Rawicz and four companions walked into British India, having journeyed four thousand miles by foot over tundra, Gobi, frozen rivers, and Himalayan peaks. A 26-year-old Polish cavalry officer arrested by the Soviets while home on leave in 1939, Rawicz survived on cunning, snake meat, and the kindness of countless strangers. Like a swimmer carefully counting breaths, John Lee narrates this astonishing adventure as if every word were a step on the long trek, the next phrase a precipice. His words resonate with Rawicz's text, savoring its long distances and carefully accommodating his pace to the tempo of the trek. Published originally in 1956, this timeless tale is given new life in Lee's fresh narration. P.E.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
