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Spies, love affairs, Nazis and history, told with a flair
Paul O’Connor reviews a work of history that has Nazis, espionage, steamy love affairs and writing that rivals today’s best spy novels. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor SISTERS IN RESISTANCE: How a German Spy, a Banker’s Wife and Mussolini’s Daughter Outwitted the Nazis. By Tilar Mazzeo. Grand Central Publishing. 254 pages. $30, hardcover. If you…
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Traveling the dangerous territory of family history
Paul O’Connor, a veteran newspaper journalist, finds the account Burkhard Bilger tells of his Nazi grandfather of great interest – and also finds much to like in Bilger’s dogged search for the truth. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor FATHERLAND: A Memoir of War, Conscience and Family Secrets. By Burkhard Bilger. Random House. 279 pages. $28.99,…
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The king, the duke, blood, toil and trouble
Blimey! Paul O’Connor is angling for a new job. Read his review to find out what that would be. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor TRAITOR KING: THE SCANDALOUS EXILE OF THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF WINDSOR. By Andrew Lownie. Pegasus Books. 432 pages. $19.95, softcover. Also available as audiobook from Tantor Audio. 8 hours, 27…
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Popular history that deserves the adjective
Paul O’Connor starts the New Year off right with a review of a work of popular history that he says is as gripping as any fictional account. Maybe more… Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor PRISONERS OF THE CASTLE: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison. By Ben…
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Charlie Lovett’s new novel is a thriller, for sure
Charlie Lovett turns his considerable talents to writing an international thriller, with results that measure up to his fans’ high expectations. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE ENIGMA AFFAIR. By Charlie Lovett. Blackstone Publishing, 350 pages, $26.99, hardcover. Through four fine novels now, Charlie Lovett has proved that he is an imaginative, skilled, thoughtful, intelligent…
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Life and love in spite of the horrors
Bob Moyer likes mysteries, detective stories and other fiction, but he also has a more serious side. In his nonfiction-reading mode, he’s often a student of the Holocaust. This book, he says, is very real – and, thank goodness, also a story of survival and even happiness. INTO THE FOREST. By Rebecca Frankel. St. Martin’s…
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Pieces of a life
Bob Moyer takes a look at a biography that gives new life to a 15-year-old Jewish girl in Norway who was killed in the Holocaust. Reviewed By Robert P. Moyer KATHE — Always Been in Norway. By Espen Sobye. Krakiel Publishing. 208 pages. $24.95. Early in his career, writer Espen Sobye was a statistician. He…
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A house filled with tears
Rob Moyer loves detective fiction, it’s true. But from time to time, his interest in human nature – including its darker sides – takes him into the serious nonfiction realm, and particularly into the horrors of the Holocaust. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer LETTERS TO CAMONDO. By Edmund de Waal. Farrah, Straus and Giroux. 182…