Rating: 
Summary: Taking it to the limit
Review: The Norwegian resistance has been planning to hit a Nazi airfield in the North of Norway and attempts to land a small team on the Norwegian coast to accomplish this. However, they run into some Germans while doing this and only one guy makes it.
This is the story of how he manages to avoid being captured ny the Nazis and how the people in the villages are doing what they can to help him make it to safety. He goes through some amazing times, for instance being bound to a bed or sledge for 27 consecutive days, being buried alive in the snow for 6 days - but somehow he still manages to pull through.
Earlier men were made of iron and the ships of wood, nowadays it is the ships that are iron and men that are wood.The story contains a few inaccuracies, for intance Finland was not fighting WITH the Germans, in fact Finland was occupied by the Germans and had no choice but to let them in. The Nazis left quite a mark after plundering and burning a lot of villages and towns. Some people have still not forgiven them.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting story, uninspired writing
Review: The story is interesting, but the writing does not capture. It is hard for an author who did not live through a hell to convey it as well or emotionally as the person who did. The result here is more a dispassionate academic read rather than an exciting adventure story. With a stack of new books awaiting, I gave up on this one after about 100 pages.
Rating:
Summary: A true story you'll never believe
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: inspirational survival story tells a lesson
Review: This amazing memoir will change the way you see, and appreciate life. An almost unbelievable story of human endurance, this has got to be the ultimate survival story. If a better one exists, I have yet to read it. The book chronicles the story of an American citizen of Norwegian descent, who joins the WWII effort via the English, on a secret mission to sabotage the Nazis in Norway. Their plan fails and they are discovered by the Nazis, and one of them, "Jan", escapes into the frigid Norwegian hinterlands. What follows is an incredible journey as Jan seeks the assistance of Norwegian locals who risk everything, under pain of death, to help him escape to Sweden. Since all roads and waterways are patrolled by the Nazis the only recourse is overland through the frozen deserts of the Norwegian highlands. Incredibly, Jan survives many weeks alone without food or shelter in the blizzards of the Norwegian Arctic. The author makes the case of how much we take for granted in our daily comforts. An inspirational story.
Rating:
Summary: Too good for fiction
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy read for lovers culture and WWII history
Review: This book is a very easy read, which is exactly the way I like them. I especially enjoyed the chance to learn about WWII through the eyes of rural Norwegians. I was especially perplexed at how the Nazi's thought they could win a war when stretched so thin accross Europe. I would not say that it is the best survival story I've read, but it's close. There are major lulls in action, but readers should expect this from any true story. I give it a thumbs up and 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible story of survival and will power
Review: This book is exceptionally well written. It shifts from the resitance to Jan (the commando) in his desperate fight for survival with the Nazis. This story also painstakingly pulls the many civilians who risked their lives and even lost their lives just to save a wounded patriot. A definate must-read for any history buff or anyone that enjoys excellent non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A PAGE-TURNER!
Review: This is an excellent, suspensful read. But an even better edge-of-your-seat page-turner is Dorit Whiteman's recent book, Escape Via Siberia, which also tells an against-all-odds WW II survival story but provides richer historical context.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book
Review: This is by far one of the most amazing books I have ever read. This man's courage and determination are astonishing to say the least, and his journey is one that kept me awake at night reading. He has stared death in the face, and Death turned away.
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