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Product Description
Review
Magnificent (Minette Walters )
Kanon writes for grown-ups, not for day-dreamers. That's why he is so good. (Allan Massie, THE SCOTSMAN )
Provocative, fully realised fiction that explores, as only fiction can, the reality of history as it is lived by individual men and women. (NEW YORK TIMES )
A story of wondrous humanity in the face of insane savagery (SPECTATOR )
Kanon writes for grown-ups, not for day-dreamers. That's why he is so good. (Allan Massie, THE SCOTSMAN )
Provocative, fully realised fiction that explores, as only fiction can, the reality of history as it is lived by individual men and women. (NEW YORK TIMES )
A story of wondrous humanity in the face of insane savagery (SPECTATOR )
Book Description
July 1945. The Allies are posturing amongst the ruins of Berlin and marking out their territory for what will be the boundaries of the Cold War. And no German admits to being a Nazi, especially those whose skills can be sold to one side or the other.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book has a murder investigation as its theme, but like all good crime books, that is a device to explore bigger themes. They don't get any bigger than in this story - what is guilt; why does a civilised society get sucked into genocide; does the justice of the victors obscure the real crimes because it is heavily influenced by self interest? These are just a few of the issues raised by Kanon. He addresses them using believable and varied characters. Many of the "baddies" are people you would enjoy meeting while many of the "goodies" have major flaws or past history which is very suspect.
I enjoyed this book more than most I have read in recent years. This is my first review on line - I've written it because I got such pleasure from this book!
I enjoyed this book more than most I have read in recent years. This is my first review on line - I've written it because I got such pleasure from this book!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Despite my title, I think this is a rich and rewarding book, about cloak and dagger espionage amid the ruins of war-ravaged Berlin. It's summer 1945 and the Allied leaders are gathering for their Potsdam conference, when an American officer's body is discovered with rolls of banknotes stuffed in his pockets, floating in a lake in the Russian occupation zone.
Kanon is very good in his examination of the central issue -- which is what makes a good person in a totalitarian state? In Hitler's Germany, what made a good German? The trouble is, some of the discussions around this topic that he makes his characters have struck me as slightly repetitive. I felt -- particularly on reading the middle section -- that the book would have benefitted from some judicious editing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a gripping, well-written book that as well as being a page turning thriller also manages to paint a moving, evocative picture of post-war Berlin, a place where corruption and violence is rife and even the seemingly innocent may be compromised.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
More than just a Good Book
An American soldier's body is found floating in Berlin shortly before Churchill and company arrive for the 1945 postwar conference. Read more
Published 22 months ago by G. M. Sinstadt
Do not confuse with the film.
Joseph Kanon is a very good author. 'Los Alamos' and 'A prodigal spy' seemed better-than-average. 'Alibi' was head and shoulders above those. 'The Good German' is the best so far. Read more
Published on 14 July 2009 by Phil
Guilty Pleasure
I have to echo the other reviews in that this is an engaging and powerful study of guilt and what it means to have been involved in the Nazi attempt to occupy the free world, but... Read more
Published on 3 May 2009 by Captain Pugwash
I'm really glad I bought it
Hi,
I'm from Spain and first of all I have to say that I received the book very soon after I bought it. Read more
I'm from Spain and first of all I have to say that I received the book very soon after I bought it. Read more
Published on 8 April 2009 by Eli
Authentic and interesting but overlong and slow
This could have been a fine book but should really have been edited by around 100 pages or so. The plot is pretty thin to be dragged out to such a lenght as this. Read more
Published on 13 April 2008 by GeeJayBee
repetative and slow
I gave up at page 354 out of 518 I just couldn't stand it any more!!!!
Never has a book dragged out a plot like this one. Read more
Never has a book dragged out a plot like this one. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2008 by Boo Kmark
Over-plotted, over-long and over here
Did I struggle with this book. Buried beneath 500-plus pages of complicated story-telling is a worthy suggestion of the murky post-war 'appeasement' of Nazi scientists by a... Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2007 by Jonathan Posner
Slow but interesting
I don't mind how long Joseph Kanon's novels are because they are all so well written and contain interesting information and some history, as well as being intelligent thrillers. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2007 by Chris Rawlings
A complex moral tale
As a few other reviewers have suggested, this is more than just a murder mystery/wartime thriller - although it succeeds pretty well on that basis also. Read more
Published on 8 May 2007 by M. J. Mooney
An excellent thriller set in Berlin in aftermath of WW2
I thought this an excellent read, although I agree with other reviewers that it could have been a bit shorter without losing too much from the plot. Read more
Published on 9 April 2007 by Maz
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