First time I've really made the effort to put a book out on Amazon.com, but here's the result. Anyone with an interest in WW2 and the fate of missing artworks could (I hope) find this novel entertaining. Some years ago, I interviewed Rudolf Hess's Doctor at Spandau Prison in Berlin, the eminent surgeon Dr. Hugh Thomas. Thomas wrote some interesting, best-selling books, such as The Murder of Rudolf Hess and SS-1: The Unlikely Death of Heinrich Himmler. Dr. Thomas hints that Spandau's last, lone prisoner, Hess, my not have been
Hess at all, but a double. He said to Hess "Who are you? You can tell me now - Himmler is dead," to which Hess responded"Is he? Are you sure about that?"
That remark gave me the idea for this book. Supposing Himmler didn't die as a suicide at Luneberg in May 1945. And the Himmler file at the Public Records Office (National Archives) is embargoed until 2045. Why? Was 'Himmler' another hapless double? Maybe one day we'll know. In the meantime, I've had a bit of imaginative fun here speculating on how his life might have panned out in South America, and how his son could have succeeded in Franco's Spain.
I find the history of the Third Reich fascinating for many reasons. One is it that happened in my lifetime. Another reason is the sheer mystery it provokes; How could a 'civilised' nation, Germany, which had given us Beethoven, Bach, Goethe and Schiller descend into 13 years of book-burning madness and mass murder? And it produced numerous calm, calculating monsters such as Himmler, a man who imagined nothing criminal in his behaviour, who still thought in April 1945 that he could 'negotiate' with Eisenhower and Churchill. These are the elements which led me to writing this bit of speculative fantasy. I suppose I'll not live until 2045. Pity; I'd love to know the truth. In the meantime, this will have to do.
You can download the book on Amazon for Kindle, or send for the paperback.
I find the history of the Third Reich fascinating for many reasons. One is it that happened in my lifetime. Another reason is the sheer mystery it provokes; How could a 'civilised' nation, Germany, which had given us Beethoven, Bach, Goethe and Schiller descend into 13 years of book-burning madness and mass murder? And it produced numerous calm, calculating monsters such as Himmler, a man who imagined nothing criminal in his behaviour, who still thought in April 1945 that he could 'negotiate' with Eisenhower and Churchill. These are the elements which led me to writing this bit of speculative fantasy. I suppose I'll not live until 2045. Pity; I'd love to know the truth. In the meantime, this will have to do.
You can download the book on Amazon for Kindle, or send for the paperback.