The Last Train

In July 1944 one of the last convoys of deportees took three days in blazing heat to go from Compiègne to Dachau. More than 2000 men were crowded into 22 cars and more than 500 would die on the journey. Arnaud Rykners The Last Train winner of the Jean dHeurs prize for historical fiction upon its initial release in France and which is here beautifully translated into English for the first time by Sue Boswell is based on this historical fact which was experienced by a member of his family. This short novel presented as a monologue of the protagonist as he nears his 22nd birthday is at once a chronicle of a true hell and a compelling meditation on survival.