Name: We Die Alone
ISBN: 9781847677594

David Howarth

In March 1943 a team of expatriate Norwegian commandos sailed from the most northerly part of Britain for Nazi-occupied Norway. Their mission was to organise and support the Norwegian resistance. They were betrayed, and only one man survived the ambush by the Nazis. Crippled by frostbite, snow-blind and hunted by the Nazis, Jan Baalstrud managed to find a tiny arctic village. There - delirious, near death - he found villagers willing to risk their own lives to save him. David Howarth narrates his incredible escape in this gripping tale of courage and the resilience of the human spirit.

We Die Alone

A World War Two epic of escape and endurance

Colleen

4.5 Stars but I'm rounding up to 5 Stars

We Die Alone popped up on my Goodreads recommendation page. Although I have been somewhat burnt out on WWII stories, I was still intrigued by this book. I love survival stories particularly true ones. We Die Alone is the incredible true story of a man not only evading the Nazis but also surviving in the harsh mountains of Norway. But it goes beyond one man's tenacity and looks at the inspiring way that communities came together to do what they could against the enemies occupying their homeland.

Don't let the fatalistic title fool you. Despite how utterly depressing the name sounds, this is in fact an uplifting, touching story. I am at a loss as to why they picked that title. The whole time I was reading it, I kept looking for some quote that would explain the title, but I did not find any. All I can do is reiterate that people should not let the title dissuade them from reading this book! It is a short book and a quick read. Although given the small font and small margins, I'd say that if it was reset with a modern print type it would probably be closer to a normal length book.

The reason I did not give this five stars outright is due to a couple little things. At times the author seems to be trying to shelter the reader from the atrocities of war. Perhaps this was due to the book being written shortly after the war when those memories were still so fresh in many minds. But it was irksome when Howarth would say something to the affect of "And then the Nazis did something so atrocious that it should not be repeated to moral people." I am paraphrasing obviously, but that was the affect. There were also a couple of times that Howarth stepped into the story to moralize on people's actions thus breaking the cardinal rule of keeping personal opinions out of biographies. However, there were only a couple of instances of this. Overall, the book was well-written and poignant. It is a shame that this book is now mostly unknown to modern readers.

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Emotional Level: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Attention to Detail: 5 Stars
Objectiveness: 4 Stars

We Die Alone

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