Canadian painter Maxwell Bates is one of very few men who experienced and survived both the infamous "long march" of Allied prisoners into Germany at the fall of France and the equally notorious march out of Germany before the advancing Allied troops in 1945. A Wilderness of Days recounts Bates' experience on the marches and during the intervening five years spent in a prisoner-of-war camp.

This account gives an intimate and detailed picture of life in the camps: from the hard physical labour in the salt mines to more personal events such as Christmas festivities and letters from home. There are also glimpses of the social and political climate of Nazi Germany. It is in this way a profound exploration of the nature of confinement and freedom.

With the Third Reich on the verge of collapse, the Germans began to move their prisoners toward Austria, often bringing them perilously close to the front lines. It was on this march that Maxwell Bates witnessed the pathetic state of civilian prisoners from the concentration camps and the cruelty of the S.S. guards. The six-week march ended twenty miles from the Austrian border, where the prisoners were liberated by American troops.

A Wilderness of Days is illustrated with twenty-six new drawings by the artist, adding a vividness and intensity to the text and capturing with remarkable sensitivity both the horrific and light-hearted moments. This book is an important contribution to the documentation of the Second World War and a valuable addition to the canon of Canadian art.

Art/Memoir, 133 pp, 6 × 9, 26 drawings
ISBN 0-919462-56-1, cloth, $25.00