When David is given a chance to escape from the prison camp somewhere in eastern Europe where he has lived for most of his twelve years, he is told only that he must make his way eventually to Denmark. He has no knowledge of his own history, or of the world at large, and no feeling about people, except that no one can be trusted. From a port in southern Italy, he travels slowly on foot across Europe.

Fearing recapture, David at first avoids people, preferring to observe and to learn from a safe distance. At length, though still continuing to be wary, he begins to have encounters with people, some of whom prove to be kindly and helpful. Slowly his trust in human beings grows and with it a desire to live and to be part of the world of sunshine and beauty that is in such contrast to the drabness of the prison camp.

David's change form an imprisoned creature completely shut off from normal human feelings to a responsive and responsible boy and his eventual discovery of his own identity make a remarkable book, almost allegorical in strength and scope, yet so acutely realistic that readers will find themselves caught and held by its essential truth.

From the dust jacket of the 1965 American Edition, North to Freedom