by Laurent Binet, translated by Sam Taylor - £8.99 Vintage (2013)
paperback
ISBN 13: 9780099555643 | ISBN 10: 0099555646
An astonishing, unforgettable novel: a thrilling Second World War assassination plot told with rare literary brilliance.
Two men have been enlisted to kill the head of the Gestapo. This is Operation Anthropoid, Prague, 1942: two Czechoslovakian parachutists sent on a daring mission by London to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich - chief of the Nazi secret services, 'the hangman of Prague', 'the blond beast', 'the most dangerous man in the Third Reich'.
His boss is Heinrich Himmler but everyone in the SS says 'Himmler's brain is called Heydrich', which in German spells HHhH.
All the characters in HHhH are real. All the events depicted are true. But alongside the nerve-shredding preparations for the attack runs another story: when you are a novelist writing about real people, how do you resist the temptation to make things up?
HHhH is a panorama of the Third Reich told through the life of one outstandingly brutal man, a story of unbearable heroism and loyalty, revenge and betrayal. It is improbably entertaining and electrifyingly modern, a moving and shattering work of fiction.
(Price & availability last checked: November 2019)
In booklists: Writers By Surname - B, World War II, Historical Fiction, Peace and War in Fiction,
In categories: Fiction, History & Biography, Peace & Human Rights,
© News From Nowhere Co-operative Ltd IP24524R 2004-2024 | Privacy policy | Contact | return to top of page