We Die Alone

David Howarth

We Die Alone by David Howarth (eBook ISBN 9781847677594) book cover

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A World War Two epic of escape and endurance

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.


“Excellent…a deeply moving Arctic saga”
the Times

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We Die Alone fills one with humble admiration for the stubborn courage of a man who refused to die under circumstances that would have killed ninety-nine men out of a hundred.”
new York Times

“A book that I absolutely could not put down…and one that I will never forget.”
steven E. Ambrose, Author Of Band Of Brothers

“Almost unbelievable. We Die Alone is a spine-chiller. It was well become a legend.”
Boston Post

“Howarth’s narrative is thoroughly involving; you can almost hear the shriek of the Arctic wind, be blinded by the snow and feel the frostbite. As vividly portrayed as his personal courage is the desolating impact of war on a handful of remote Norwegian fishing settlements.”
David Stafford
times Literary Supplement


David Howarth

During World War II David Howarth ran a spy ring from which both this volume and his previous best-seller - The Shetland Bus - derive. Mr Howarth, who died in 1991, was the author of two dozen major books of history.