Fatherland - Robert Harris

Perhaps it was a mistake to read this book just after a Nabokov and write its review during the process of reading the most recent William Gibson. But I have to say I am sorely disappointed. After reading enthusiastic blurb quotations regarding 'Fatherland' as well as several positive reviews, I expected perhaps not a masterpiece, but a high-class, utterly convincing thriller which might be even straying into the realm of literature. It wasn't. As a reader of s-f I am perhaps more than average familiar with exercises in creation of alternative worlds, and thus less in awe of somebody who managed to imagine and describe a 75 year old Hitler and a Berlin in ...  Read the complete review

I once asked an English teacher of mine what made a good book. He replied that it was a book where getting to the end of it was not enough ? you wanted to know what happened to the characters beyond the last page. I have always found this explanation to be a simple, yet satisfying one. With so many books, you get to the end of it, put it down, and never think of it ever again; they were entertaining enough, but instantly forgettable. With others, though, you find yourself reaching the end of the story and desperately wanting to know more. ?Fatherland?, for me, certainly falls into this second category. It may not be the most accomplished ...  Read the complete review

What if? That is an interesting question when it comes to history. How would the world be different if Harold hadn't got an arrow in his eye in 1066? What if the Spanish Armada had defeated the English fleet? What if Napoleon had won at Waterloo? How would the course of history have been changed would we in the UK be a province of France or Spain? Would Americans be speaking French instead of English? This is the question that underlies former journalist Robert Harris's entertaining alternative history detective/political thriller 'Fatherland'. THE PLOT It is 1964 and in Berlin the capital of the Third Reich preparations hare being ...  Read the complete review

First published in 1992, it is hard to believe that ‘Fatherland’ was Richard Harris’s first attempt at fictional writing. He had made a name for himself with historical texts and political biographies, but this curiously compelling mix of whodunit and what might have been deservedly shot to the top of the best-seller lists. I found it particularly interesting as the story is set in the heart of Nazi Germany, a subject that I have long taken an interest in, thanks to studying the Nazi period and now living in Germany. However, this book is set not in the pre-war years, but in 1964 - that’s the ‘what might have been’ part. ...  Read the complete review

History has a lot to teach us and it's important that future generations remember the sacrifices their ancestors went through for them to have the life they have now. The Second World War is still relatively fresh in the mindset of the modern world and the atrocities that occurred then still resonate in the world today. However, as each year passes there are fewer and fewer people who lived during the war and are able to tell their primary stories. So what happens now? I am a cynic and I believe that even with the best will in the world, people will begin to forget about the war. In 400 years time something like the Holocaust may seem impossible to imagine. Even ...  Read the complete review