Synopses & Reviews
Compared to
Casablanca by the
Washington Post, this a page–turning story of a group of resistance workers who secreted downed Allied fighter pilots through France and into safety in Spain during World War II.
As war raged against Hitler's Germany, an increasing number of Allied fliers were shot down on missions against Nazi targets in occupied Europe. Many fliers parachuted safely behind enemy lines only to find themselves stranded and hunted down by the Gestapo. The Freedom Line traces the thrilling and true story of Robert Grimes, a 20–year–old American B–17 pilot whose plane was shot down over Belgium on Oct. 20, 1943. Wounded, disoriented, and scared, he was rescued by operatives of the Comet Line, a group of tenacious young women and men from Belgium, France, and Spain who joined forces to rescue the Allied aircrews and take them to safety. And on Christmas Eve 1943, he and a group of fellow Americans faced unexpected sudden danger and tragedy on the border between France and Spain.
The road to safety was a treacherous journey by train, by bicycle, and on foot that stretched hundreds of miles across occupied France to the Pyrenees Mountains at the Spanish border. Armed with guile and spirit, the selfless civilian fighters of the Comet Line had risked their lives to create this underground railroad, and by this time in the war, they had saved hundreds of Americans, British, Australians, and other Allied airmen.
Based on interviews with the survivors and in–depth archival research, The Freedom Line is the story of a group of friends who chose to act on their own out of a deep respect for liberty and human dignity. Theirs was a courage that presumed to take on a fearfully powerful foe with few defences.
Synopsis
As World War II raged throughout Europe, many Allied fliers were shot down in battle. If they survived, the fliers would parachute behind enemy lines, often to find themselves stranded and hunted down by the Gestapo. The luckiest soldiers encountered the Comet Line, an underground resistance group that recovered Allied aircrews and guided them to safety. In The Freedom Line, Peter Eisner tells this extraordinary story through the eyes of the soldiers themselves, along with the brave people who rescued them.
The road to safety was a treacherous one, stretching hundreds of miles across occupied France to the Pyrenees Mountains at the Spanish border. But the selfless civilian fighters of the Comet Line persevered, risking their lives to save hundreds of Americans, British, Australians, and other Allied airmen. Based on in-depth archival research and survivor interviews, The Freedom Line is the story of a group of friends who chose to act on their own out of a deep respect for liberty and human dignity.
Peter Eisner is the Deputy Foreign Editor at the Washington Post. He was foreign editor of Newsday from 1985-1989 and served as the paper's Latin America correspondent from 1989-1994. He was also a reporter, editor and bureau chief with The Associated Press. Eisner won the InterAmerican Press Association Award in 1991 for his investigations of drug trafficking in the Americas. He is the author of Death Beat (with Maria Jimena Duzan), and America's Prisoner, which he co-wrote with Manuel Noriega.
"A highly readable, gripping, and inspirational account of a little-known aspect of resistance history ... Highly recommended" -- Library Journal Reviews
Synopsis
The Freedom Line unfolds a surprising history of World War II, telling the gripping story of the men and women who risked their lives to save Allied airmen trapped behind enemy lines.
When twenty-year-old American pilot Robert Grimes was brutally shot down over Belgium on October 20, 1943, he was stranded and instantly became the target of Gestapo manhunts. Wounded and lost, he was rescued by operatives of the Comet Line, a resistance group made up of young men and women from Nazi-occupied territory who formed an underground network that recovered Allied aircrews and guided them to safety. Their road to freedom was a perilous journey by train, bicycle, and foot that stretched hundreds of miles across occupied France to the Pyrenees Mountains at the Spanish border.
Experience an engrossing story of survival and resistance, as veteran journalist Peter Eisner vividly tells this remarkable history through the eyes of the participants -- the former airmen as well as their rescuers.
About the Author
Peter Eisner has been an editor and reporter at the Washington Post, Newsday, and the Associated Press. His 2004 book, The Freedom Line, was the recipient of the Christopher Award. Eisner also won the InterAmerican Press Association Award in 1991, and was nominated for an Emmy in 2010 for his role as producer at the PBS news program World Focus. Eisner's other books include The Italian Letter, written with Knut Royce, which traces fraudulent U.S. intelligence prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.