Munich
A novel
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4.0 • 380 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of V2 and Fatherland—a WWII-era spy thriller set against the backdrop of the fateful Munich Conference of September 1938. Now a Netflix film starring Jeremy Irons.
With this electrifying novel about treason and conscience, loyalty and betrayal, "Harris has brought history to life with exceptional skill" (The Washington Post).
Hugh Legat is a rising star of the British diplomatic service, serving at 10 Downing Street as a private secretary to the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. Paul von Hartmann is on the staff of the German Foreign Office--and secretly a member of the anti-Hitler resistance. The two men were friends at Oxford in the 1920s, but have not been in contact since. Now, when Hugh flies with Chamberlain from London to Munich, and Hartmann travels on Hitler's train overnight from Berlin, their paths are set on a disastrous collision course.
And once again, Robert Harris gives us actual events of historical importance--here are Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini, Daladier--at the heart of an electrifying, unputdownable novel.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The author of Fatherland and Enigma returns to World War II with this gripping thriller. As an unprepared Britain braces for Hitler’s fury, Hugh Legat—secretary to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain—learns a secret that could alter the outcome of the looming war. Full of vividly drawn scenes of real historical events and crackling spy intrigue, Munich is Harris at his best: sophisticated and suspenseful.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The 1938 Munich peace negotiations form the backdrop for this intelligent novel. Thriller Award winner Harris (Conclave) presents the diplomatic give-and-take through the perspectives of two friends who have fallen out of touch: Hugh Legat of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and his Oxford schoolmate, Paul von Hartmann, who serves as a translator for the German Foreign Ministry. For Hugh, the international crisis coincides with the deterioration of his marriage. Paul is recruited by a group of conspirators hoping that Hitler's militarily unrealistic plans to attack Czechoslovakia will lead his generals to support an effort to topple him. Meanwhile, Neville Chamberlain holds vigorous discussions with his cabinet about what he could and should do to avert what he believes will be a civilization-shattering conflict that will cost many British lives over "a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing." Harris succeeds in not only transforming a familiar historical event into a novel of suspense but in making the derided Chamberlain sympathetic. 100,000-copy announced first printing.)
Customer Reviews
Very good book
A very good book. The level of interest and even tension was maintained throughout; even though the eventual outcome was well known.
Munich
Was hoping for more... disappointing
Great Historical Fiction
Exciting taut thriller of the four days around the Chamberlain Hitler Conference in 1938. Two underlings friends (one German and one English) work to end appeasement and stay alive. Excellent backstories on the two leads and an interesting portrayal of Chamberlain.