Since 1956, <em>The Long Walk</em> has been, for many, the symbol of animmense love of freedom and has become one of the greatesttrue-life adventure stories of all time. The harrowing story about agroup of POWs who escaped a labor camp in Siberia and walkedto freedom in India during WWII deeply affected thousands of itsreaders, and Linda Willis was one of those moved by the story. Butshe had questions about its authenticity:<ul> <li> Was it all true? </li> <li> What happened after their arrival in India? </li> <li> Were there others involved in the story? </li> <li> Who was Mr. Smith? </li></ul>Though she was not a trained researcher, Willis felt compelledto look at some of the most powerful aspects of the story and totry to dig to the core of the truth behind <em>The Long Walk</em>. Willis&rsquo;sinvestigation took her down unforeseen byways with many hoursspent unraveling facts, truths, half-truths, rumors, and the like. Shewaded through archives, wrote and spoke to hundreds of people,and continued to seek out and verify the details of the greatestadventure narrative ever written. The path of Willis&rsquo;s research willbe a model for anyone attempting a similar search and who has everthought about the story behind a book. No one who reads <em>Lookingfor Mr. Smith</em> will ever think of <em>The Long Walk</em> in the same way.