I have mixed feelings about this book. I recently read it while on vacation, and although I really enjoyed the story, some of the claims made in the book seem dubious, and it seems like people who have looked into the matter have been unable to corroborate the author's account.

The story itself - about a group escape of a Soviet prison camp and their year long walk through Siberia, Mongolia the Gobi desert, Tibet and the Himalayas - is great, a well written easy read.

If you can't stand the thought of reading something that might be dishonest, try "The Gulag Archipelago" for a more depressing, but probably more realistic view of the lives and treatment of Soviet political prisoners. Volume 3 of that series even has some good escape stories.