2002, ISBN: 9780786712076

The extraordinary true story of a German soldier's bold escape from a Siberian labor camp and his incredible three-year, eight-thousand-mile trek to freedom Originally published in 1955, … Plus…

The extraordinary true story of a German soldier's bold escape from a Siberian labor camp and his incredible three-year, eight-thousand-mile trek to freedom Originally published in 1955, As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me has seen international success ever since. It has been translated into fifteen languages, sold more than 12 million copies, and is the basis for an award-winning German entry at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Recounting an incredible real-life adventure, it tracks the destiny of German soldier Clemens Forrell who, in the aftermath of the Second World War, was sentenced to twenty-five years of forced labor in a lead mine in the barren eastern reaches of Siberia. Subjected to the routine brutality of the camp and the climate, Forrell dreamed continuously of escape--and then daringly effected it. From East Cape across the vast trackless wastes of Siberia, for thousands of miles and three years, with fear as his most intimate companion, Forrell fled treachery and endured some of the most inhospitable conditions on earth. In a long series of taped interviews with the esteemed German author Josef M. Bauer, Clemens Forrell unfolded his remarkable story of survival in all its chilling and heartrending detail. Page by page, episode after episode, Bauer not only reconstructs Forrell's arduous journey to the Iranian frontier and freedom; he also poignantly evokes the emotional content of Forrell's brave quest--his desperation in the prison camp, the alarming effects of lead poisoning, his fierce struggle to endure, his terror of recapture. What emerges is an affecting portrait of a man who strove against all odds to triumph over dehumanizing circumstance. Media > Book, [PU: Carroll & Graf Publishers]<