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Cruel Crossing: Escaping Hitler Across the Pyrenees

Cruel Crossing: Escaping Hitler Across the Pyrenees

by Edward Stourton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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Customers find the book to be a marvellous read. The research quality receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as excellently researched.

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A chronicle of the perilous European mountain escape route used during World War II, with epic stories from survivors and their families. After the Nazi invasion of Belgium in 1940, an underground network was established to help British servicemen escape German-occupied Europe. As the war progressed, others began using the secret route as well, traveling to the south of France, over the Pyrenees mountains, and into neutral Spain. The Chemin de la Liberté runs forty miles across the central Pyrenees. Since 1994, it has been hiked each July to commemorate those who made the courageous journey during the Nazi occupation of France. BBC Radio presenter Edward Stourton made the trek in 2011, and from his fellow hikers, he uncovered amazing stories of wartime bravery and perseverance. In Cruel Crossing, Stourton draws on interviews with survivors, as well as family members of those who were there, to paint a history of this little-known aspect of World War II. It is colored by tales of hardship from soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, persecuted Jews fleeing Hitler and Vichy France, and bold resistance fighters aiding their escape. There are scrambles across rooftops in the dead of night, drops from speeding trains, treachery, murder, romance, and of course, heroism. These personal stories offer a dramatic and moving trip through the past, preserving the memories of those who endured so much to gain back their freedom.Praise for Cruel Crossing “Stourton writes evocatively and with sensitivity of the people who made the arduous trek. . . . An engaging collection of tales.” —Daily Express “In Mr. Stourton’s hands, the Pyrenees become a grim amphitheatre for heroism and betrayal, collusion and rebellion. . . . Cruel Crossing recaptures much of the adventure and the fun, as well as the horror and the bitterness, as it brilliantly conjures up the voices of the past.” —Country Life “Heart-breaking and breath-taking . . . thoroughly moving and very readable.” —Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room “An important book packed with poignant stories, remarkable characters and uncomfortable truths.” —Clare Mulley, author of The Spy Who Loved Read more

Product Information

ASINB0CKXF1XRQ
PublisherOpen Road Media
AccessibilityLearn more
Publication dateNovember 7, 2023
LanguageEnglish
File size31.6 MB
Screen ReaderSupported
Enhanced typesettingEnabled
X-RayNot Enabled
Word WiseEnabled
Print length473 pages
ISBN-13978-1504087018
Page FlipEnabled
Best Sellers Rank#354,572 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #167 in Historical France Biographies #224 in Survival Biographies & Memoirs #417 in Jewish History (Kindle Store)
Customer Reviews4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 327 ratings

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