{"product_id":"long-journey-home-by-katrina-kittel-9781761472701","title":"Long Journey Home","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter her father's death, Katrina Kittel opens his old Globite suitcase and finds tiny photos, postcards in beautiful handwriting from a mysterious Swiss woman, and memorabilia from his war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKatrina Kittel's father, Colin Booth, was captured during the disastrous July 1942 attempt to take Alamein's Ruin Ridge. He was among 80,000 Allied soldiers sent to camps in northern Italy as prisoners of war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey suffered cruel punishments for petty offences, hunger, and illness, and they were used as forced labour on farms. When news arrived of the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, POWs escaped the camps, scattering across the countryside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCol was among those who headed north, aiming for neutral Switzerland. Life in the camps had been challenging, but not nearly as nerve-racking as life on the run, as they dodged German soldiers, Royalist sympathisers, and fascist loyalists, while scrounging for food and shelter, trying to reach the navigable mountain passes before winter set in. Kind Italians shared what they could, but for some impoverished mountain villagers, the 4000-lire German bounty for a captured POW was very tempting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn enthralling read. Kittel's book sheds new light on a little-known aspect of the war.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eTom Gilling\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCaptures the rawness, the resilience and the humanity of this little-known theatre of war.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eSusan Jacobs\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAstonishing stories of courage and survival under the most extreme circumstances—giving voice at last to the forgotten men behind the uniforms.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003ePaul Livingston\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDeeply affecting and profoundly important.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eTony Albert\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRich in personal stories and deeply researched.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eKarl James\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47548196356332,"sku":"9781761472701","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/1ed7faf88caf059664961a84e9df12ef.jpg?v=1776908691","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/long-journey-home-by-katrina-kittel-9781761472701","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}