Perhaps the Munich accords of September 30, 1938 were the launching off of the imperialist anxieties of Nazism. The annexation of the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany was that concession to the cause of the Third Reich, prior to the final outbreak of World War II, and interpreted by Hitler as a gesture of weakness by the European leaders of France and the United Kingdom who attended that disastrous meeting.
Nobody better than Robert Harris to novel a fascinating intrahistory in that singular context. A narrative respectful of the facts but masterfully led towards that desired uchrony about to come true.
At times, with the intervention of some masterful figures such as Hugh Legat, right hand of the British President Chamberlain and in charge of an underground task during the president's trip to Munich; and of the German Paul Hartmann, an outspoken opponent of Hitler and a diplomat with the last links of power that can reverse the situation, the novel takes on a Ken Follet aftertaste in The winter of the world. Only that Harris is more oriented to the historical thriller, to the most electric suspense without concessions, to the unique setting in which the reader delves into detail with an exquisite taste for detail, through the interstices that real history offers to infiltrate fictional cases that disturb and surprise .
Those days of September 1938, with the echoes of the Sino-Japanese war becoming increasingly close drums of conflict for Europe, Hitler seemed to anticipate with his annexationist provocations what would finally happen a year later when he invaded Poland.
Chamberlain believes he has time to stop Hitler. The same goes for his secretary Hugh Legat, who will finish off his friend Paul Hartmann and they will devise a secret plan with which they feel they can transform a reality that points to impending tragedy.
And that is where Robert Harris's masterful gifts for suspense emerge with intensity, leading the reader through a scenario that seems to advance parallel to the events of those days, capable of interacting and transforming what happened, awakening emotions and intense sensations to through his accurate descriptions of the extreme situations that the characters go through.
You can now buy the novel Munich, the new book by Robert Harris, here:
1 comment on "Munich, by Robert Harris"