The Vichy regime was bad enough, particularly in its brutal attitude to Jews, but once the Germans had taken over control     of the whole of France escape became much harder, with more efficient border patrols and vicious reprisals on French people who sheltered and aided refugees. These brave people were enthusiastically backed by thousands of tough and combat-hardened Spanish republican exiles itching to get back at the Nazis who had backed Franco. The stream of French refugees increased significantly with the introduction of the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO) in February 1943 which was designed to conscript young men for forced labour, mainly in Germany.   

The actual mountain crossings themselves were often deadly ordeals. The foreign and Jewish refugees were usually at the end of their tether, malnourished and poorly dressed, before they set off on what they hoped would be the last leg of their journey, and Stourton has collected some grim tales of what went on in the mountains. Some of the passeurs (guides) were brave idealists, but many more were callous mercenaries who would even resort to shooting their weaker charges if their slowness endangered the lives of the rest of the party. One such victim was Jacques Grunbach, the Jewish editor of an underground newspaper. He was part of an escape group in November 1942 led by a famed passeur Lazare Cabrero-Monclus, known as El Magno. Grunbach, who had a weak heart, slipped and broke his ankle and had to be left behind while El Magno led the others to a hut higher up. When he went back for Grunbach, he judged him beyond hope, shot him and heaved him over a ridge. His body was not found until 1950; Cabrero-Monclus stood trial for his murder in Toulouse in 1953 but was acquitted. (To be fair, he led Grunbach's companions to safety.)

Judging by the organisation of his material, Stourton would not have made much of a passeur himself: he frequently leaves the path to dart off in unexpected directions before getting back on track. But he has a sharp eye for a moving personal story and a real feel for the sector of la France profonde where the events he describes took place. I am surely not alone in mourning his disgraceful removal from Radio 4's Today programme, where his intelligent and courteous manner is still missed. He brings those qualities to this thoughtful book, which is a worthy memorial to countless daring, and desperate, people.