In the dying days of World War II, Alan Flederman was a POW in Italy. As the Allies advanced, there was an ever-present threat that he and his fellow prisoners would be despatched deep into the land of their fears - Germany. Not one to sit around waiting for such a potential fate, Flederman, along with a small band of other prisoners, planned an escape, which, though successful, did not end beyond the perimeter fence of the camp. This book tells the story of the journey from the prison camp to true freedom, through war-torn Italy, where danger lurked in even the most rural hamlets, to the heavily patrolled Swiss border. Flederman reflects on how, without the help, kindness and shelter of the families and individual men and women of the tiny villages that he traced his journey through, he might never have made it. The enormous personal risk these people put themselves in by sheltering him is a debt he passionately acknowledges.