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Product Description
Review
‘A brilliant picture of Britain under German rule’ Sunday Telegraph
‘One of Deighton’s best. Apart from his virtues as a storyteller, his passion for researching his backgrounds gives his work a remarkable factual authority. With Bomber and Fighter he established himself as an expert on a period… the authority of these books seem absolute.’ The Observer
‘Len Deighton is the Flaubert of the contemporary thriller writers… there can be little doubt that this is much the way things would have turned out if the Germans had won the war.’ Michael Howard, Times Literary Supplement
‘Deighton is a tremendous weaver of tales… action is all, and splendidly done.’
‘A master of fictional espionage.’ Daily Mail
‘The poet of the spy story.’ Sunday Times
‘For sheer readability he has no peer’ The Standard
Product Description
In February 1941 British Command surrendered to the Nazis. Churchill has been executed, the King is in the Tower and the SS are in Whitehall…
For nine months Britain has been occupied - a blitzed, depressed and dingy country. However, it’s ‘business as usual’ at Scotland Yard run by the SS when Detective Inspector Archer is assigned to a routine murder case. Life must go on.
But when SS Standartenfuhrer Huth arrives from Berlin with orders from the great Himmler himself to supervise the investigation, the resourceful Archer finds himself caught up in a high level, all action, espionage battle.
This is a spy story quite different from any other. Only Deighton, with his flair for historical research and his narrative genius, could have written it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's November 1941 in Nazi-occupied Britain, and Detective Inspector Archer of Scotland Yard finds himself reporting to SS Gruppenfuehrer Fritz Kellermann. The King is a prisoner in the Tower of London; Churchill has been shot after a brief trial in Berlin; Germany and the USSR are still the best of friends; and the USA is reluctant to intervene. Austerity holds Britain in its icy grip, with luxuries more or less limited to the German occupying forces and those who succeed in ingratiating themselves.
The successful invasion left swathes of ruin and destruction that have not yet been repaired. The blackened shell of a Panzer IV tank still sits halfway up Wimbledon high street. Anyone violating curfew, or breaking regulations, is likely to be shot or sent to a concentration camp. Yet there is no point in rebellion - that would just get more people killed. Apparently, the only way forward is to cooperate with the Germans. Kellermann hints to Archer that his young son might possibly attend the good German school in Highgate... On the other hand, perhaps he should be sent to a training school for young Nazis in Germany.
While developing one of his usual opaque plots, Deighton cleverly shows the dilemma facing Archer and others in positions of responsibility. We see the British resistance as more like the present-day Iraqi insurgency ("terrorists, thugs and diehards") than in the heroic light that has retrospectively fallen on those who fought the Nazis after their countries had surrendered.
As usual in a Deighton story, it is no use trying to work out which side anyone is on. Mostly, each of the leading players is on his (or her) own side. The question is: who can profit most by cooperating with whom? The answers turn out to be surprising indeed. Tension starts to build with the abrupt arrival of SS Standartenfuehrer Huth from Berlin - a man who stands for no nonsense, works for Himmler, and has dauntingly direct methods. Can the Resistance exploit tensions between the German Army and the SS to rescue the King? What is the secret of the scientist who is found shot dead, apparently suffering from an extreme case of sunburn? Add a beautiful American journalist, a sinister British secret service officer, a US military expedition, sundry criminals, black-marketeers and collaborators, stir vigorously... and get ready for some stunning entertainment.
The successful invasion left swathes of ruin and destruction that have not yet been repaired. The blackened shell of a Panzer IV tank still sits halfway up Wimbledon high street. Anyone violating curfew, or breaking regulations, is likely to be shot or sent to a concentration camp. Yet there is no point in rebellion - that would just get more people killed. Apparently, the only way forward is to cooperate with the Germans. Kellermann hints to Archer that his young son might possibly attend the good German school in Highgate... On the other hand, perhaps he should be sent to a training school for young Nazis in Germany.
While developing one of his usual opaque plots, Deighton cleverly shows the dilemma facing Archer and others in positions of responsibility. We see the British resistance as more like the present-day Iraqi insurgency ("terrorists, thugs and diehards") than in the heroic light that has retrospectively fallen on those who fought the Nazis after their countries had surrendered.
As usual in a Deighton story, it is no use trying to work out which side anyone is on. Mostly, each of the leading players is on his (or her) own side. The question is: who can profit most by cooperating with whom? The answers turn out to be surprising indeed. Tension starts to build with the abrupt arrival of SS Standartenfuehrer Huth from Berlin - a man who stands for no nonsense, works for Himmler, and has dauntingly direct methods. Can the Resistance exploit tensions between the German Army and the SS to rescue the King? What is the secret of the scientist who is found shot dead, apparently suffering from an extreme case of sunburn? Add a beautiful American journalist, a sinister British secret service officer, a US military expedition, sundry criminals, black-marketeers and collaborators, stir vigorously... and get ready for some stunning entertainment.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book does not feature pitched battles between the resistance and the Germans, but a real "what if" scenario. Life under Nazi rule, as experienced in many European countries, was oppressive, dull and dangerous. The central character, a police detective, has to work with the new masters, and make the best of it. The petty rivalry between the German army and the SS is exposed, and is a central factor in the story. And the machinations of the British politicians as they try to avoid being suspected by the Germans is as frustrating as it is realistic. A really great and underrated novel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Intriguing story which you probably need to read twice to understand fully. A glossary for the German officer titles would have been very helpful. I preferred Bomber but still enjoyed this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
At times implausible and contrived
Set in a 1942 Britain where Germany has won and occupies Southern Britain, the well depicted background is the set for our hero, a Met superintendent, to investigate a murder, but... Read more
Published 4 days ago by Captain Kirk
Good Holiday Read
XPD is a period read. Ideal to take you back to how spy books used to be written. A classic thriller of it's time with lovely period detail. XPD
Published 17 days ago by The Tai Chi Club
A worhwhile read
Having read a few of Deighton's books, I knew what I was getting myself into. It was heavy going to start with, London, post Nazi victory, but more a combination of detective and... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Cynical B
Enjoyed it as much as I did when I first read it
I am quite fond of "what if" novels.This one is really well thought out and to my mind and that of of my late father,who was a young army officer at that time.
Published 10 months ago by readerman
Just not worth the effort...
I don't often write reviews for books online - in fact this may even be my first, but I feel compelled to warn about the pitfalls of this novel, which despite the hype does NOT... Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. Costello
Great film plot
Love the idea. Deighton sets the scene well, and the initial feeling for the reader is great discomfort, about the idea of Britain under the Nazis. Read more
Published 14 months ago by D. Smith
'Fatherland' it ain't!
I'm a big fan of alternate history especially ones where the Nazis win the WW2 - but somehow SS-GB managed to slip beneath my radar till someone bought it for me for... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mme DLR
An interesting idea, but a bit confusing
This book is set in a fictional England, after the Second World War which Germany has won and taken over Britain. Read more
Published 19 months ago by miss_spookiness
A suspenseful mystery set in Nazi-occupied Britain
What happens when one's commitment to their duty conflicts with their loyalty to their country? That is the dilemma facing Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer in Len... Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2009 by Mark Klobas
Alternate history of World War 2
In this complex reworking of history, the Germans won the second world war in 1941 and now rule Britain. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2009 by M. R. N. Shackelford
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