Slavomir Rawicz was a Polish cavalry officer in World War II. He came home on leave and found himself arrested by the Russians for the crime of, well, being Polish. He was kept in prison, but refused to confess. After a few months, he was tricked into signing a confession and shipped off to Siberia for 25 years hard labor. After a horrible trek up into the northern wilderness, he finds himself in a Siberian work camp.

He decides he's not about to spend 25 years there, and makes plans to escape. He enlists six other men, a Latvian, an American, other Poles, and they sneak out in the night. Their escape plan will take them through Mongolia, across the Gobi Desert, up and down the Himalayas, and through India.

It's an incredible story. I couldn't put it down once I got started. Sometimes there were gaps in the story, but it was absolutely gripping. Really worth reading.

Why O why do I not write my reviews immediately after reading. I know how forgetful I have become and that if I want to write a good review I have to write them immediately.

It does frighten me that it has been only a week and already I have a hard time remembering what I read. lol.

What I do now is that it was a very good book. Meaning it is a very interesting story and well written and hard to put down.
I did not remember (see sometimes it is handy! ;) ) what was in the book description so not knowing how many would survive

(I knew at least one otherwise there would not have been a book

Some moments were really sad and I am glad that I read this book. This is the second book I've read about someone escaping the camps in Siberia. It made me wonder if there are still being camps like that but I assume not.
Good read!

Well written history, with all of the elements of travel survival that make your pulse quicken... It is not an easy read, there are many places where you will wince and want to turn away - but it is a history important to note. Stalinist Russia was full of bizarre and improbable cruelties, we should never forget the lives that were devastated by the tangled web of paranoia and totalitarianism.

On another level, the human survival story is inspiring and jaw dropping. The things these human beings went through on their trek to freedom definitely humble me when I look at the smallness of my day to day challenges. When they lose a travel companion, Rawicz makes you feel the loss as well - when you realize one more person made it so far and wasn't going to see the golden end.

I recommend this book for those into travel adventure, history, particularly Russian history, and those who just need something to show them their lives aren't nearly as bad as they might think.

Great book. Whether it's fact or fiction doesn't really bother me. Any argument in either direction is only splitting hairs. Similar journeys during this time period did take place. That’s really enough for me. If nothing else, by reading it, (cliché warning) it enhances your understanding of the desperate times and the desperate reaction to those times. You might even be able to compare it to watching the movie Forest Gump, an entertaining blend of historical fact and character fiction. However, my one question lies with the reviewers. No one ever really mentions the Yeti sighting. Here everyone is arguing whether or not the author actually walked such a great distance, but then these same critics fail to address the giant Yeti in the room. Not many books with a Yeti sighting are deemed purely factual, so loosen up and approach this book for what it is; a believable, inspiring epic, shortened into a fast paced, 2-day, enjoyable read.