Munich: A novel

There are few authors as adept as Robert Harris in writing excellent historical fiction. This is true whether he is writing about ancient Rome, the contemporary Vatican, or as here, Hitler's Germany. In large measure this is true for two reasons: first, he does extensive research so that every page sparkles with authenticity; second, he is just a remarkable storyteller. His great talents are well on display in this novel set during the 1938 Munich big four talks where Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is remembered for declaring "peace in our time" had emerged. Harris faces particular challenges in setting his story with the Munich conference as the background. Munich has been studied and dissected by so many historians, that it is very well known in its most minute details. Harris is so able to fit his fictional story into this framework that it is often difficult to know what is history and what is fictional--one mark of superior historical fiction. The key characters, one a young British diplomat (Hugh Legat), the other his German counterpart, were friends years before while at Oxford. Each is fluent in both English and German. Harris takes us into his reconstruction of meetings within Chamberlain's advisers as war appears likely, as he does for strategy sessions within Hitler's inner circle. The German,Paul von Hartmann, apparently is a member of the dissident group that will eventually try to kill Hitler in 1944. He has sent a highly incriminating document of Hitler's plans for Europe to Legat, so he may show it to the PM before any decisions are made at the conference. Legat is too junior to justify a meeting with the PM; but he is added to the team going to Munich. Hartmann himself set to attend the conference plans to hook up with Legat and get the document to Chamberlain. Their efforts to accomplish this goal right in the middle on tight German security adds a note of suspense and tension. Harris keeps all the events going on well structured so the reader does not get lost in the flurry. I will not spoil the story by recounting what the PM does when he finally reads the document. Harris creates a last-minute private meeting between Hitler and Chamberlain just before the PM flies back to London. I don't know if such a meeting in fact did occur. But in the novel, Hitler and the PM sigh off on the famous document that Chamberlain displays on his return that he asserts creates "peace in our time," which of course soon became obvious that it did nothing of the kind, leading to Chamberlain's fall and the installation of Churchill as PM. One interesting aspect of the novel is that Harris treats Chamberlain with kid gloves--he is always polite and a more skillful writer than history suggests. While the book is no "page turner" which the reader cannot stop reading until the conclusion, it is pretty suspenseful at points and holds the reader's interest throughout its 303 pages. Frequently, historical fiction writers have "afterwords" where they explain what was true and what is part of their story. That is not the case here and I think it would have been helpful. Harris in his acknowledgements lists the books he relied upon, which attest to his extensive research. He also wrote a non-fiction book about Hitler and worked on a 1988 documentary commemorating the 50th anniversary of Munich. So he is well versed in this topic and it shows. A fine novel that also allows the reader to learn a bit of history about one of the most important developments in the 20th century.

Robert Harris’s novel focuses on an actual historic event, the September 1938 meeting between British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Germany’s Adolf Hitler. The fictional part comes in when we meet two men who are opposites: Hugh Legat, a British Foreign Service officer, and Paul von Hartmann, a third secretary at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. Legat and Hartmann were students at Oxford in the early 1930s, both speak English and German, and manage to secure a billet within their respective legations that will meet in Munich. Hartmann is involved with a group of German patriots who believe that Hitler must be destroyed before he unleashes a horrible war in Europe. Hitler is intent on securing “breathing room” for German citizens in the Sudetenland region even if it takes a little combat. Hartmann has a secret document which outlines Hitler’s plans for war and manages to smuggle it to Legat so that he can alert his PM on the Fuhrer’s treachery. Both Legat and Hartmann are under intense scrutiny by security forces and find it difficult to get much accomplished. History has judged Chamberlain to be a weak and ineffective leader but Harris is more sympathetic to the PM’s character. As the novel moves ahead, Chamberlain is clearly not deceived by Hitler’s pledges of peace but wants to delay Germany’s actions as long as possible so that Britain can take necessary rearmament steps. By contrast, Hitler is described as an ill-tempered and nondescript figure with a bad case of body odor, or resembles a night watchman who disappears in the morning as soon as the day shift arrived It’s an excellent read with a moral that is still valid for our time: immediately stand up to aggression before it can move on to a full scale war.

Five stars for research, pacing, characterization and for interest in an event that has been interpreted in various ways by various interests. There are fine vicarious moments: inside the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street during Neville Chamberlain's Prime Ministership; inside the Führerbau in Berlin, a ride on the Fuhrer's special train, speeding through the night on the way to the Munich Conference to deal with Czechoslovakia. It has only been in recent years that Chamberlain has begun to regain the respect that the hopeful had when he returned from Munich. The same can be said for the (in my time, forgotten) way in which Czechoslovakia had been cobbled together from the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after WWI. Yes, this novel was entertaining...BUT even more, I feel I now understand important nuances about the run-up to World War II and to British preparations for the outbreak of war.

The book leaves the two protagonist with no finality. Maybe that was done on purpose so that the author could introduce a follow up book?

A compelling narrative painting a contrasting detailed portrait of the individuals involved in the dramatic possibility of Germany's occupation of the Sudenten region of Czechoslovakia. Ultimately, an international summit, including Hitler, takes place at Munich. A relentless tug-of-war between self-interest versus politics. Intrigue, suspense, betrayal. Good, but, not as great, as the author's "Conclave."

Well known author

good read

Spedizione velocissima, prodotto impeccabile

Escolhi o livro pois queria conhecer melhor o período anterior a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Achei a narrativa um pouco cansativa.

Robert Harris is one of my favourite authors in the faction (= documentary fiction) category. He writes about real historical events but creates a plot which makes them more alive and prevents you from knowing everything beforehand. In this case Harris retells the famous Munich "peace for our time" capitulation when Hitler still could have been stopped - maybe. All the important protagonists are there with their own names, except some invented minor actors, like the main character, the most junior private secretary of Chamberlain, Hugh Legat. Even his German counterpart and co-conspirator, Paul Hartmann is based on a real historical character who was executed after the failed attempt at Hitler's life in 1944. In the case of Munich, the timeline is only a few days, from Chamberlain's failed attempt to get Hitler to accept a delay so that Czechoslovakia could organize a plebiscite, to the signing of the Munich agreement and the euphoria of Chamberlain's return. Most of the action takes place in the fringes, like the failure to arrest Hitler (which depended on the refusal of the British and the French to accept the agreement so that Hitler would decide to attack), the attempt to get Chamberlain to see documents which showed clearly Hitler's true intentions as well as a lot of technical stuff about translating, typing and communicating. The main historical figures are described a bit more in detail and the portrait of Chamberlain is quite symphathetic. He is described as a person who is extremely unwilling to take the risk of leading Britain into a war when the previous one was only 20 years away. This puts him in a very difficult position when the opponent is a person who is all too willing to get into war, even though his generals believe that it is much too early (but who are ready to start a war a bit later). It was probably too late already in 1938 to stop Hitler, but that is impossible to know. The friendship between the two main characters, Hugh and Paul, dives the book an extra dimension. The details are interesting: Munich in 1938, during the Oktoberfest, Hitler's special train, the atmosphere in the German foreign ministry and the much more cramped surroundings of the 10 Downing Street. Less so the failed marriage of Hugh, which is an unnecessary English trope (coming from Le Carré and others). The productivity of Harris is impressive, so impressive that one would think that he is being used a model of Philip Kerr (see my review of Research) of a famous and extremely productive author, but at least in the book, there is no hint that Harris would be using ghostwriters. In any case, his books are extremely readable and fascinating for the historically inclined who does not want to wade through long historical tomes. The only thing is that it takes a lot to time to produce a new book (several month's in Harris's case) whereas it takes just a few hours of intense reading to get through it, So there should actually be a factory producing monthly Harris books to keep us readers happy!