Well-researched, well-written and searingly memorable, Jack Fairweather’s book reminds us of the capacity for nobility in the human soul in times of unimaginable peril

Few books have enthralled, incensed and haunted me as “The Volunteer” has done. There were times I felt compelled to set it aside. There were others when hours of reading passed in what felt like moments … This is a story that has long deserved a robust, faithful telling, and he has delivered it

An extraordinary story

Superbly written and breathtakingly researched … a story of incalculable value delivered in the most compelling prose I have read in a long time

What distinguishes The Volunteer is Fairweather’s meticulous attention to accuracy … if it sometimes seems as though there is nothing left to uncover about the Holocaust, Fairweather’s gripping book proves otherwise

Combines the verve of a thriller with the detailed evidence of the sober, hideous truth

A searing account … a fitting memorial to one of Poland’s greatest war heroes and a shaming indictment of the western allies’ failure to act

A forceful narrative with unstoppable reading momentum, Fairweather has created an insightful biography of a covert war hero and an extraordinary contribution to the history of the Holocaust.

Witold Pilecki is one of the great—perhaps the greatest—unsung heroes of the second world war … Jack Fairweather’s meticulous and insightful book is likely to be the definitive version of this extraordinary life

An outstanding achievement … a harrowing tale, revealing the depths of human depravity, redeemed by the shining courage and nobility of one of humanity’s heroes.