Hitler's Peace: A Novel of the Second World War [Paperback]

The title of Phillip Kerr's latest work, "Hitler's Peace", certainly has an Orwellian ring to it and the very provocative (though counterfactual) thought of a proposed secret peace agreement between the Allies and Hitler's Nazis in 1944 forms the basis of this fast paced thriller.

Kerr wraps his plot around a series of real events from the Second World War, specifically, a series of conferences attended by the leaders of the Allied forces: the Cairo Conference of November 22-26, 1943 (attended by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek) and the Tehran Conference of November 28-December 1, 1943 (at which Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin).

As the book opens, Kerr wraps these conferences around top-secret peace feelers between the Nazi leadership and the various Allied nations. The powers that be in Nazi Germany (and the question of who amongst these powers are involved is a key element of the book) have decided that a two-front war cannot be won. They believe that a general peace agreement may save the day. Failing that, these unspecified highly placed Nazi officials think that making a separate peace with the U.S. and Britain before the expected Allied invasion of France in the summer of 1944 will allow Hitler to turn all his guns against `the Bolsheviks.'

The story is driven by the key protagonist, Willard Mayer. Mayer is an Ivy-League philosopher, fluent in German and currently an analyst with the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA. Mayer lived in Germany before the war and also had some connection to the USSR's secret police, the NKVD. Mayer is asked to assist Franklin Roosevelt in formulating a response to Hitler's proposed peace. "Hitler's Peace" is filled with twists and it is impossible to reveal more about the plot without spoiling the plot.

Although "Hitler's Peace" was a fun, easy read it was far from perfect. An author faces a very difficult task when he/she incorporates real people into a work of fiction. This is particularly difficult when those real people are famous enough for the reader to have a sense of how a Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, or Roosevelt would have acted in real life. If there is too big a gap between our sense of the person and the book's plot then the natural ability to suspend disbelief for purposes of a piece of fiction gets more difficult. That was the case for me with "Hitler's Peace". Churchill's actions seemed in character as did Stalin's (to a lesser extent). However, and even though I know this is fiction, Hitler and Roosevelt's actions just didn't fall within a `zone of reasonableness' for me.

Kerr was more successful in the cameo appearances made by real life but less famous figures. During the course of the book Mayer runs into characters such as Kim Philby and Guy Burgess, members of the British intelligence elite who later turned out to be Soviet double agents. Mayer also runs into a British officer named Enoch Powell. Powell served in the British and was a Greek scholar of great renown. He later became a Member of Parliament known mostly for his virulently anti-immigration views toward non-Caucasian immigrants to Britain. These walk-on appearances were well done and added a bit of fun to the book.

All in all I liked Hitler's Peace despite the reservations expressed above. The book is fast-paced and each chapter leaves you wanting to find out a bit more before you close the book for the night. I'd say this is a good book to take along for a summer weekend at the beech or a fall evening. I'd rate this at 3 and 1/2 stars.

I think the previous reviewer has missed or forgotten an element in the story - which I won't reveal here because it's a 'spoiler' - which does explain Philby's confidence in talking to Willard Mayer...
I too have a great interest in the era, and found the author's grasp of the period to be above the average of most wartime-set novels, especially the justifiably uneasy relationship the western Allies had with the Soviets. And whilst I agree the author perhaps slightly overdoes the 'guest appearances' of historical personalities, none of their characterisations rings false - in fact they're very skilfully done, and my own litmus test for books like this is always 'how do the nasty Nazis come across...?' Which Kerr passes with flying colours : there's no rug-chewing or movie-Nazi sneering. You do get the sense that the author really has done his research, with little nuggets of information that illluminate the personalities and the reality of wartime relationships and events - although, of course, Hitler never wore his brown Party tunic after the war began..!
I would say that it takes a little time to get fully into thriller mode, but it's worth the wait.

Philip Kerr is one of the finest exponents working in what seems to be a golden age for genre writing around the Second World War and its aftermath. Thois is not his finest work: Bernie Gunther lives in those. However it is still very good indeed. As far as the book is concerned, the vendor said it was good but lacking its dust jacket. It was excellent, and had its jacket, so better than described. Book, author, and venfor are all recommended