I was hoping this book would shine a light on a little-known event in WWII history and, to an extent, it did. However, it spent more time on the life and backstory of the protagonist than I would have liked (though, I should have expected it based on the title). As a result, it was not able to keep my attention.

What a remarkable story and remarkable book. The true account of Rudolph Vrba 's life is told. He, and a fellow prisoner, were the first Jews to escape from Auschwitz, and attempted to expose the horrors that were being perpetrated on his fellow human beings.
This is a relatively unknown story and Freedland is to be commended for bringing it to us. So many fascinating and important books have been written about the Holocaust. This book provides so much more information and first person details. What's equally important is an examination of Rudolph Vrba, the person. The author honestly fills in his life following World War II.
This is such a significant work. I felt so privileged to learn about Vrba and what he had accomplished in his life.

I had never heard of Rudolf Vrba before reading this book and that is a shame because his contributions to try and stop the Holocaust were significant, unfortunately they were ignored for a while and weren't as effective as they should have been.

A very interesting read and I highly recommend.

Who needs fiction when you have non-fiction to keep you at the edge of your seat? I was so captivated, I almost forgot this was a non-fiction at times. I also kept wishing this was just a dystopian novel...

In 1944, Rudolf Vrba was the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz to warn the world about the death camp. This book tells the story of how he ended up at Auschwitz, his experiences there, his escape with Fred Wetzler and his incredibly detailed account of Auschwitz - an account that would reach many world leaders.

Vrba, an exceptionally observant and smart person, was able to provide harrowing details that left little to doubt in the trustworthiness of his report. Being aware of the arrival schedules to Auschwitz, he knew time was of the essence. And yet the world took so long to believe him and take action.

Freedland's telling was at times heartbreaking (not surprising, given the subject) and at times made me so anxious, even knowing the end of the story. I was surprised to only have heard about Vrba now. It was also incredibly interesting to learn about how his later life was impacted by his survival. Not only was this a great biography for anyone interested in WW2, many of it's components are (somehow) still timely.

I alternated between the physical and the audiobook while reading this and found the narration by the author to be excellent. Thank you so much Harper Audio for the ALC and Harper Books for the finished copy.

This book just wasn’t for me. I felt like the pacing was a little too slow and I never found myself eager to pick the book back up. It wasn’t the writing that I didn’t care for but the development of the story.