Your cart is empty

©2025 Fable Group Inc.
4.0 

The Longest Walk Home

By Ray Bailey & David Wilkins
The Longest Walk Home by Ray Bailey & David Wilkins digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Raymond Bailey was born in 1919, the son of a miner. He left school aged fourteen and began work as an apprentice lathe operator at the Vauxhall Car Works in Luton. In 1939 he was in the first wave of young British men called up to fight in the Second World War. After basic training, Ray's battalion was posted to France and thrown into some of the bloodiest fighting of the entire conflict. In June 1940, just a few weeks after arriving in France, Ray found himself among the thousands of British soldiers captured at the catastrophic Battle of St Valery.

Download the free Fable app

app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities
app book lists

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.
app book recommendations

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool
app book reviews

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags
app comments

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

The Longest Walk Home Reviews

4.0
“Great to read Rays story! And I loved that we found out what happened to the other soldiers at the end of the book as a tribute to Ray.”

About Ray Bailey

Raymond Bailey was born in 1919, the son of a miner. He left school aged fourteen and began work as an apprentice lathe operator at the Vauxhall Car Works in Luton. In 1939 he was in the first wave of young British men called up to fight in the Second World War. After basic training, Ray's battalion was posted to France and thrown into some of the bloodiest fighting of the entire conflict. In June 1940, just a few weeks after arriving in France, Ray found himself among the thousands of British soldiers captured at the catastrophic Battle of St Valery.

David Wilkins

David Wilkins spent most of his working life in the charitable and public sectors. He also taught at university. Outside of work he has long collected old diaries, manuscripts, letters, photo albums and other similar items. In 2019 he gambled on a box of old notebooks at auction and discovered he now owned Ray Bailey's wartime memoir. The Longest Walk is David's second book based on a found memoir (his first book was published in 2017).

Start a Book Club

Start a public or private book club with this book on the Fable app today!

FAQ

Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?

Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?

How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?

Do you sell physical books too?

Are book clubs free to join on Fable?

How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?

Notification Icon
©2025 Fable Group Inc.
Fable uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB