Captured French soldier Rene Tardi finally gets a taste of freedom, as prisoners and German officers alike are forced to evacuate the POW camp he has languished in for the past four years. A long, gruelling journey eastward begins, where Tardi and his fellow POWs must evade the Russian Army, stave off their gnawing hunger, and contend with the increasingly ill-tempered German soldiers accompanying them. Featuring meticulous line work punctuated by stunning splashes of colour, Jacques Tardi's grim yet heartening biographical portrait of his father's life is a personal and artistic triumph.