FORTY NIGHTS TO FREEDOM: THE TRUE PRISONER OF WAR ESCAPE STORY OF WING COMMANDER STEWART F. COWAN (RET.) Smith, Gladys E. Winnipeg, Queenston House, c1984. 219pp, cloth, ISBN 0-91986603-4 (cloth) $19.95, 0-91986604-2 (paper) $9.95. CIP Grades 9 and up Reviewed by Alfred F. Greenwood Volume 13 Number 5 1985 September Lt. Col. F.S. Cowan joined the RCAF in 1940 and after graduating as a pilot was posted to Malta. Later, he flew Beaufighters in Egypt, and on July 29, 1943, while taking part in an anti-shipping attack, he was shot down and taken prisoner of war by the Italians. After World War II he remained in the RCAF and retired in 1969. Forty Nights to Freedom written by his sister, is the story of his sojourn in prisoner-of-war camps, his escape from a moving train, and his journey through Italy. In this trek through enemy territory he experiences danger, suffering, heroism, and hairbreadth escapes. He also encounters compassion as he is helped on his way by courageous Italian civilians, and he eventually reaches freedom in the welcoming arms of a front-line Canadian unit at Compo-basso. The volume includes two maps, a sprinkling of photographs and some intriguing tables. One table compares the calorific values of German and Italian prisoner-of-war camp diets; another, most detailed, shows Swop Shop prices in cigarettes, i.e. cheese, British worth twenty; Canadian, twenty-five; New Zealand, sixty; and Argentine, sixty. An excellent and unusual section of this book is the epilogue, which asks and answers the questions: "What happened to the characters in Forty Nights to Freedom? Where are they now?" The photographs, some official and of obviously good quality, are poorly reproduced. A Royal airplane group shows Prince Philip indistinguishable among a line of silhouettes. One important photo has a botched caption. Although the book is interesting, the flow is rather ragged. Some judicious editing and careful proofreading would have improved a work which has great potential. Gladys Smith has published many articles in magazines and newspapers across Canada. World War II buffs, especially Italian campaigners will like this volume. Alfred F. Greenwood, Victoria, B.C.