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A review by jacki_f
Munich by Robert Harris
4.0
Set over four days, this is the story of the signing of the Munich Agreement in September 1938. It's told from the perspectives of two civil servants, one on the English side and one on the German side, who knew one another six years previously when they attended Oxford together. At that time, Paul Hartman was cautiously optimistic about Hitler and his ambitions but in the years since he has become a secret member of the anti-Hitler resistance. He hopes to use the Munich meetings as an opportunity to warn the British - via his old friend Hugh Legat - about the extent of Hitler's ambitions.
There was a lot of research that went into this novel and it shows - it feels like a very faithful record of the various conversations and meetings that went on over those four days. The book takes a while to get going and I was starting to get a little bored with it, but once everyone arrives in Munich the pace picks up. Even though you know how the meetings will conclude, there is genuine tension as Legat and Hartman try to connect.
It wasn't my favourite Robert Harris book by a long shot, but I did enjoy this insight into a key event leading up to WW2. I also couldn't help but ruefully note commonalities between Hitler and a particular US President, which I am sure wasn't accidental on the part of the author.
There was a lot of research that went into this novel and it shows - it feels like a very faithful record of the various conversations and meetings that went on over those four days. The book takes a while to get going and I was starting to get a little bored with it, but once everyone arrives in Munich the pace picks up. Even though you know how the meetings will conclude, there is genuine tension as Legat and Hartman try to connect.
It wasn't my favourite Robert Harris book by a long shot, but I did enjoy this insight into a key event leading up to WW2. I also couldn't help but ruefully note commonalities between Hitler and a particular US President, which I am sure wasn't accidental on the part of the author.