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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
This was an in depth detailed account of how Norwegian (sp?) resistance fighters worked to destroy the Heavy Water plant that Germany had commandeered during World War II. The beginning was a little slow as the author introduced you to all the main players and why they chose to be part of the resistance. Overall it was a good book on one part of WWII that I did not know a lot about. Please note I am using this in the terms of people fighting the Germans that had taken over their country. Some of these folks had fled Norway, Trained in England and then returned to perform the attacks
informative
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
The Winter Fortress is a truly compelling work of history, telling a fascinating story with strong narrative drive. Despite that narrative drive, Neal Bascomb manages to incorporate enough cultural and scientific background to make his book accessible to readers without much prior knowledge of Norway or of atomic physics - quite an accomplishment on the part of the author! There's a great deal of heroism profiled in these pages, and altogether The Winter Fortress is a grand tale of ordinary people meeting great challenges under extremely difficult circumstances.
adventurous
challenging
informative
tense
slow-paced
An exciting and atmospheric account of the daring mission to sabotage the Vermork hydroelectric plant in Nazi-occupied Norway, whose production of so-called heavy water was essential to Hitler’s nuclear ambitions. I had seen the film The Heroes Of Telemark (1965) a long time ago, but the real story is far more interesting, full of heroism, hardship and sacrifice.
This book was the last part of yet another 2020 reading goal I had. This goal was where I asked a good friend and mentor to select three non-fiction works that they thought I might enjoy. I'm glad that I was able to squeeze this one in before the year ends.
I have to get my main complaint out of the way to start. I am so used to works of fiction that the withdrawn way in which this story was told seriously threw me off for the first hundred pages or so. This leaned more towards a history book telling of events than I am used to. I wanted more descriptions of people and places, more talk about relationships and emotions. Instead, this book is jam packed with information and details. It was kind of like reading a fantasy book that is ninety percent exposition. Not that I haven't read something similar to this before just that I didn't connect to it at start.
Once I got past that, this was one wild story. These people accomplished great things and did so by being extraordinary on a near daily basis. I was perhaps most impressed with the survival skills of the saboteurs on skies. The sacrifices they made in an extreme climate while under intense pressure and stress was nothing short of astonishing.
I have to get my main complaint out of the way to start. I am so used to works of fiction that the withdrawn way in which this story was told seriously threw me off for the first hundred pages or so. This leaned more towards a history book telling of events than I am used to. I wanted more descriptions of people and places, more talk about relationships and emotions. Instead, this book is jam packed with information and details. It was kind of like reading a fantasy book that is ninety percent exposition. Not that I haven't read something similar to this before just that I didn't connect to it at start.
Once I got past that, this was one wild story. These people accomplished great things and did so by being extraordinary on a near daily basis. I was perhaps most impressed with the survival skills of the saboteurs on skies. The sacrifices they made in an extreme climate while under intense pressure and stress was nothing short of astonishing.
This book wasn't a thrilling, edge of your seat depiction of WWII sabotage and captures the humanity behind the men who undertook undercover missions to the hydroelectric plant in Vemork, Norway to prevent the advancement of the Nazi atomic bomb program. A lot of books in this genre rely on Herculean efforts, larger than life personalities, and an intricate web of lies and deception, a la James Bond, to hook the reader but "The Winter Fortress" concentrates on the life stories of the Norwegian men involved in the sabotage, the reasons why they are fighting for their homeland, and what the mission means to them and it was a heartfelt and different approach that worked well.
I really like the mission details that were engaging and interesting and they didn't seem like they read from a log book or overly embellished dime-store spy novel. You really felt what the men were going through at each stage of the mission and before and after and got a great sense of exactly what they were doing and why.
Anyone who is a fan of WWII spy novels should look into this book for the human aspects of war and also a mission in a country that doesn't get a lot of press and exposure. Really fun read.
I really like the mission details that were engaging and interesting and they didn't seem like they read from a log book or overly embellished dime-store spy novel. You really felt what the men were going through at each stage of the mission and before and after and got a great sense of exactly what they were doing and why.
Anyone who is a fan of WWII spy novels should look into this book for the human aspects of war and also a mission in a country that doesn't get a lot of press and exposure. Really fun read.
Oh man. This book was spectacular!!! I've studied a lot about World War II, but I've never really studied much about Norway's involvement. Which is extremely sad because the sacrifices and everything that the country went through is insane! The guys involved with Operation Freshmen, Grouse/Swallow, and Gunnerside are the most amazing heroes I've ever heard of. The struggles they faced and the hardships that they went through, all in the name of freeing their beloved country. It's moving. Bascomb did an excellent job of laying out the history and science of all involved, and really did a fantastic job describing the trials those men faced. I highly recommend this book. It's so worth the read.