Berlin’s transformation was complete — as though a long siege had been lifted. The streets were colourful and welcoming, with garlands hanging from every lamppost and shop front along the Leipzigerstrasse. The Olympic rings billowed from the flagpoles of the Wertheim department store, and the JEWS NOT WANTED signs had disappeared from shops, cafés, and parks.
With the state’s sadism hidden from view, the Reich Labour Front had ordered a week of ‘jollity and cheerfulness’ prior to the Games, fearing that foreign visitors might be disheartened by the Berliner Schnauze — the surly local manner. Only in a tyranny, Denham thought, are citizens ordered to be happy.
(from Flight From Berlin)
I’m taking it easy blogging-wise for the rest of the summer since I’ve been too busy to keep up with my reading, but I am so glad that I finished David John’s new novel Flight From Berlin in time for the start of the 2012 Olympics. Set during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, the novel is a fast-paced thriller complete with espionage, a little romance, and of course, sinister Nazis.
Flight From Berlin centers on two characters: Eleanor Emerson, an American swimmer and senator’s daughter who ignores her father’s concerns about Nazi politics and decides to participate in the Games, and Richard Denham, an English reporter living in Berlin whose interest in a Jewish fencer forced to compete for Germany in order to protect her family gets him into some hot water with the Gestapo. Eleanor and Richard’s paths cross after Eleanor is kicked off the Olympic team and lands a position as a columnist at the Games due to her connections.
Without saying too much, Richard and eventually Eleanor get pulled into a scheme by the British Secret Intelligence Service to obtain a dossier on Hitler, whose surprising rise to power has many concerned. This scheme puts them in the path of Reinhard Heydrich of the SD, known as Heydrich the Hangman; involves Martha Dodd, whose father was the U.S. ambassador to Germany; and eventually gets them seats on the doomed Hindenburg.
Flight From Berlin is a quick read with plenty of drama and action that kept me reading well past my bedtime. There was a lot going on, but John did a good job connecting all the plot threads, and even though he changes historical facts here and there to suit the story, he made it all seem believable. I especially liked that there was an author’s note and a list of historical characters at the end to help readers separate the fact from the fiction.
I really enjoyed Flight From Berlin, but I wanted to love it. I loved Eleanor, her outspokenness, her conviction, and her strength, but once she and Richard join forces, she fades a little into the background. Moreover, even though I can understand why the Nazis wouldn’t want the information in the dossier to be leaked, I really didn’t find its contents to be shocking. Maybe I’ve watched too many documentaries on Hitler and the Third Reich? I actually found the story about the Jewish fencer to be most interesting and a foreshadowing of what the Nazis would undertake in a few short years.
Even so, the novel kept me on the edge of my seat, especially when the characters ended up on the Hindenburg. The transformation of Berlin to put on a happy face for the Olympics also was fascinating, along with the possible Nazi influence on the head of the American Olympic Committee and his sidelining of some American athletes. Flight From Berlin is an exciting novel that shows the ugly side of the Third Reich and hints at the horrid events to come, while also highlighting the selflessness exhibited by members of resistance groups and the inner strength of those being persecuted. Its fast pace balanced out the heaviness and made it a perfect book for summer reading.
Disclosure: I received Flight From Berlin from Harper for review.
© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I’m looking forward to reading this one…and how appropriate that it involves the Olympics when they are just about to begin!
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I accepted the book knowing it was about the Berlin Olympics but forgetting that the London Olympics were coming soon. It was a smart idea for the release to coincide with the 2012 games.
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Yes it was!
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Sounds like a great book to read during the Olympics.
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Definitely! Fast-paced and can be read in short snippets during the commercial breaks. 🙂
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What an interesting point of view to read it from, right before the worst started. It’s interesting to see from a social point of view how people act in a situation that historically has become so infamous. It’s humbling to see that people then were the same as people now – like Eleanor who chose to participate in the Olympics anyway. Very interesting.
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I think it’s always fascinating to see how societies and governments exist prior to war and what factors lead up to it. The mistreatment of the Jews was apparent long before the Holocaust, which is so sad.
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I’ve wanted to read more about the 1936 Olympics for some time, so this one sounds like a great intro to the topic. Glad you made time to read and review it, though I completely understand you wanting to take a break this summer 🙂
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The Book Thief got me interested in the ’36 games. This book, though focusing on the games for the first half of the book, really only scratches the surface of the tensions and the concealment that occurred.
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This sounds excellent. When reading about atrocities committed throughout history, it’s important to me to also see the acts of selflessness and heroism that always go along with them.
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I like books that show both sides of the coin as well.
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Sounds like you enjoyed Flight From Berlin, and it does sound like a good one to read now during the Olympics.
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Yes and yes! 🙂
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Kept you reading, that’s what I like to hear. Thanks for the review and recommendation.
Enjoy these last lazy days of summer 🙂
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Thanks, Jenny!
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It sounds like we had similar reactions. I liked it, but it felt somewhat superficial and unsurprising given what I already knew about the era. It’s a great gateway historical fiction title, I think.
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“Gateway historical fiction” is a great way to put it. At least we were able to enjoy it for the most part despite having read so much about WWII and more complex historical stories at that.
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I love that this book takes place during the olympics and highlights different characters from that expected or typical. This sounds like an exciting read.
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It was interesting to see Nazi Berlin from the eyes of foreigners removed from the events but pushed into the middle of the conflict. That did make it exciting, even if the secrets weren’t shocking.
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