Robert Harris, the author of Fatherland has taken a key event in the history of France and created a novel that is a thriller and educational.  Written from the perspective of a key player in the events, the reader is drawn into a world of the “deep state” before the term was used.  It serves to remind us that those who have power seldom are ready to relinquish it, especially when they know no other life and possess no other skills that those they have acquired in the acquisition of their power.

 After their loss to Germany in the war of 1870, the French nation was torn between a paranoid fear of another German attack (a preventative war) and the French desire for revenge.  France, which had always been the predominant military land power on the continent was humiliated; it was other people’s lands which were despoiled and looted, not the sacred soil of France!

To achieve their desire for revenge, which included repossessing the key provinces of Alsace and Lorraine which the French had taken from the Germans centuries before, the French military was lavished with money and prestige.  They represented the honor of France and stood for the glory which had to be taken back from the new German empire.

In 1895, a Jewish officer of the General Staff was convicted in a secret military trial of passing secrets to the Germans.  Sentenced to life on Devil’s Island, he was isolated from the world; his wardens were not allowed to speak to him, he was chained to his bed at night, his view restricted by high wooden fences, his mail restricted and censored, his was a living hell of a punishment, especially for a man convicted on forged evidence. 

The rest of the story is well known, how another French officer by the name of Picquart gradually comes to realize that the prisoner, Alfred Dreyfus is innocent of the charges and that Major Esterhazy was in fact the real traitor. Shocked by the injustice done to Dreyfus, Picquart reports his findings to the army powers that be only to find out that they had known of the injustice but had decided that to save the “honor” of the army, nothing was to be done.  In fact, new evidence was “discovered” which further condemned Dreyfus.  What follows is an example of a handful of brave men including Picquart who fight against powerful forces within the government who use every tool at their disposal including humiliation, intimidation, and violence to cover up their crime against Dreyfus.  What is the importance of one man against the needs of the State?

In this excellent novel, we see nobility in the acts and courage of a man willing to lose all in the pursuit of justice.  We see prejudice in the antisemitism of France at that time. We also see courage, fear, and determination, not in fictional characters, but in those who lived these trying events. I can see readers finishing the novel and wondering which of those traits they would possess in a time of trials.

Given the war in the Ukraine, I thought this might be a good time to repost this review which I originally posted in December 2019. Although as written it could be a history, it was written before so many events and was ignored by so many “leaders” in the West who were more concerned about their ideology or keeping their power. Why face reality when those who yell the loudest and demand the most of you are among the villians in this book. I guess that is the story of mankind; take the easy way and let someone else clean up the mess.

Mao Tse-tung once said that “political power comes from the barrel of a gun”, but Vladimir Putin could just as easily say that “political power comes from the end of a pipeline”.  This excellent book analyses how Putin uses his countries gas companies for both tactical and strategic means to his end; to regain the power, and perhaps the territory which was lost by the collapse of the Soviet Union.  How can he do this?  By providing the European nations the energy they need at a below market price and by letting them know that he holds the comfort and economies of many nations within the EU in the palm of his hand.

Of course, he could not pursue this course if it were not for the lack of political will on the part of numerous European leaders and their own ideology regarding energy in the 21^st century.  By pursuing “green energy”, being intimidated by the “green” movement (which is often subsidized by Russia to serve its own ends) and by insuring that the social safety net is kept in place. European leaders have mortgaged their energy futures to a nation which uses its energy reserves almost regardless of short term financial considerations all in the pursuit of increased European dependence on Russian energy.

Consider that the EU has reserves of shale oil and natural gas, but refuses to spend the monies to exploit them.  They would rather purchase the oil and natural gas from the Russians and the U.S. They don’t want to spend their money on their defenses and are more concerned with maintaining their social programs; in short, they are living at the sufferance of other powers.

For nearly twenty year, Kim Philby was the premier Soviet spy, rising through the ranks of the British Secret Service, acting as the head of Soviet counterintelligence for the British (he was charged to chase himself), and worked closely with both the CIA and the FBI (under Hoover).  This book starts out with an excellent introduction by Phillip Knightley who studied Philby for thirty years, and an exciting foreword by Graham Greene who not only knew Philby, but even visited him in Moscow after Philby fled the U.K.  From there however, the book fails to meet the promise.

Philby, in his position, was able to pass literally mountains of secrets to the Soviets and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of anti-Soviet agents across Europe.  He was a true believer; he did not betray his country for money, but he did believe in the goal of Communism.  Even though he knew the true scope of Stalin’s crimes against his own people, he kept the faith based on a belief (as modern-day apologists proclaim) that it was not the “system”, but it was rather the wrong person at the top.  Yet he like today’s apologists never face the question of what kind of system is it that allows a murderer like Stalin to take control and exist for so long.

The concept of “broken windows” policing should apply on a national level; when we see politicians or bureaucrats ignoring the laws and traditions that have been the basis of our nation, we need to take corrective action. When our basic rights are abused, we need to act. When the very value of our citizenship is discounted, we need to respond. These are the premises and foundation of Victor Davis Hansons’ excellent new book, The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America.

I purchased the book because I have been increasingly concerned about the decreasing value of my personal citizenship. How is it that citizens can be mandated to limit travel, wear masks, show proof of vaccination while during the last year, two million individuals from over 150 countries have entered our nation illegally and be allowed to disappear into the vastness of our nation by the government officials who have sworn to uphold our laws? How is it that those who enter our nation illegally are not 100% assessed for Covid, quarantined, etc.? In a naked power grab, politicians in various cities decree non-citizens can vote in local elections thus decreasing the power of our citizenship. The supremacy of national laws? Worthless as hundreds of cities openly ignore Federal law, making tax paying citizens pay for the education, health care, etc., of those who decided that they and not we the citizens should decide our rules for living in our nation.

Given the situation in the Ukraine, I thought a brief reminder of the system that shaped Putin might be timely. Putin wishes to reconstitute the Soviet Union and those who would appease him and not treat him like the outlaw he is, need to be reminded of his system and those he admires.

I have no doubt that the title for the most biographies written about any politician would belong to Winston Churchill, but his life compared to Stalin’s was an open book.  For Stalin, the ideal time to write a biography with new information is past as his contemporizes die off and the archives are once again closed.  Montefiore was the right biographer at the right time at the right place.  He has written a biography that is well paced, filled with colorful antidotes and supported by excellent research. Considering his topic, the greatest mass murderer until Mao, this book brings home the ruthlessness of Stalin without exhausting the reader by an impression of overwhelming despair.

From 1671 until the fall of the Raj and the independence of India, many thousands of English women would make a long and often dangerous journey to the Raj to find a husband. The voyage was known as “The Fishing Fleet” and those women who failed in their quest went back to England on a voyage called “The Empties.”  Most of the women were away from home for the first time and as the running of the Raj was a male endeavor, the women who landed at Madras, Calcutta and Bombay were outnumbered by English males who substituted sports for sex while they paid their dues in an attempt to create a successful career. Thrown into a whirlwind of parties, balls, and sightseeing, they were the center of attraction and could receive numerous proposals after speaking to a man for only a few minutes.

The process started while the English presence in India was the domain of the East India Company who would pay for the passage and a stipend for eligible women to make the long voyage. After the Mutiny, this type of arrangement fell off, but given that there was a surplus of eligible women in the U.K. (approximately 750,000 a year), well, what was a girl to do?

Victor Serge (1890-1947) was born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich to Russian anti-Tsarist exiles and grew up in Brussels where he mingled with socialist, anarchist, unionists, etc.  Leaving home while in his teens, he lived in a French mining village and then in Paris.  He became an anarchist and editor of a like-minded paper and after refusing to testify against comrades who participated in an anarchist action, was sentenced to five-years in prison.

When released in 1917, he traveled in 1919 to Russia then in the midst of a civil war.  From this point on, his description of the Civil War, bloody elimination of factions opposed to the Communists, the excesses of the Cheka, the Kronstadt Rebellion is one of the best descriptions of that period on record.  Still an anarchist, he is allowed to edit several papers (until the Communist close them down) and can participate in governmental conferences until the Communists begin to turn on their own.  Intra-party fighting pits Left Opportunists against Right Opportunist, Left and Right Deviationist against each other and of course, the anarchists against all the above.  Unlike John Reed’s classic (but dry and pro-Party book), Serge gives us a real feeling of the ever-changing forces and factions as the Communists attempt to solidify their hold on the world’s largest country.

At the end of last November, I posted a review by Victor David Hanson of the new biography by Allen C. Guelzo. I purchased the book although I thought I was familiar with Lee’s life, but I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Although the author considers Lee a traitor, he is very even handed and treat Lee as a man full of doubts, cares, and desires so that you feel a connection with Lee.

Lee had his own devils, including adoring his father, Henry Lee, a hero of the Revolutionary War, also known as “Light Horse Henry,” for his daring wartime actions. A failed land speculator, Henry left his son early to escape creditors and each time Lee looked at a business venture, he always saw the image of his failed father over his shoulders. Those land failures were also at the base of Lees’ constant concern about money and attempts to safeguard his families’ small holdings in Virginia. In turn, those concerns were part of his reason to side with the Confederacy during the war. He was devastated when Arlington, his father-in-laws property (todays Arlington Cemetery) was seized by Federal troops, and he realized after the war that the property would never be his in anything except a dream and a memory.

Although we tend to think of Lee as a military man, he had never commanded troops in battle until the outbreak of the war and he was at heart, an engineer. Several times he thought of leaving the military with its low pay, slow promotion, and postings which he disliked (including Superintendent of West Point Academy). Each time, he pulled back due to the security of the army and its steady paycheck.

This is a fine novel, filled with interesting characters, well developed and all connected through their living in the Yacoubian building, a large, multi-family building that has seen better days in Cairo. From the street level to the roof where many families make their home, we trace the daily struggles, small victories, and disappointments which we could fine in any large city today. That is part of the beauty of this novel, for we sometimes forget that it does not matter if we look at Cairo, Paris, Tokyo, that the human condition is in the end, the same. And, it has not changed that much throughout history.

We find an idealistic young man whose dreams of become a police officer are crushed due to the fact that his father is a common man; in response, he becomes radicalized. There is an aging playboy who is rolled by his latest “sweetheart,” demonized by his sister and faces an uncertain future. A Christian shirtmaker who dreams of making the finest shirts in Cairo and the wealthy businessman who reaches too high. The female characters work and dream of the same things as in the West and face the same hurdles with a bravery that equals that of any individual around the world who faces poverty and few opportunities.

If you have never been to Egypt (visit, it is a fantastic nation filled with wonderful people), this little novel will open the country to you and make you feel at home.

The author has published other successful books, but he makes his living as a dentist in Cairo. The stories are based on the location and characters that he has known through his life and perhaps that is why you will feel so close to them; he writes about them with a feeling of respect and love.

If you are looking for a bit of escape, invest some time in this little gem.

When the Cold War ended, many felt that it signified the end of totalitarianism and dictatorship. The world would move forward into a new age where individuals and societies would be freer to determine their futures. As we have seen however, there are those societies and individuals who seem to have chosen to continue along the path which limits the freedom of the individual and seeks to continue what is the main course of human history, that of strong leaders who believe they have found the true path to a better world as outlined by their own vision, paranoia and sense of victimhood.

Are the visions of the leaders of Russia, China, Turkey, North Korea, and others simply anomalies or do they reflect a natural inclination of mankind? How is it that leaders can be supported as they move to limit freedoms, begin to imprison opponents, and even move toward genocide, often of their own citizens? This book allows us to learn from the past and see how it is often those who are considered the “best and the brightest” to begin to move down the path of tyranny and destruction.

From my reading of the subject, this is the best history of the RSHA which incorporated the SD, Gestapo, and the Criminal Police and provided the leadership for the killing squads that roamed through Europe from the invasion of Poland in September 1939 until late in the war.

     Unlike the popular image of the SA, the street enforcers of the Nazis especially prior to the “revolution” when Hitler rode into power, much of the leadership of the RSHA came out of the university student unions which gained such power after WWI. Today, at many of our universities, we see leftist demonstrations aimed at seizing administrative power at all levels, blocking dissenting views, demanding the ouster of “unenlightened” professors, etc. But in the 1930’s it was the right wing at the universities which interrupted lectures, led massive demonstrations and frequently started violent conflicts with those who dared to challenge them. Although most of the students had little contact with Jews, by 1930 only a couple of fraternities accepted Jews as members and the anti-Semitism was directed not only at students but also professors and administrators.

     With the Nazi seizure of power, leading students joined first the SA, then moved into the SS and were transferred to the RSHA. Many had received their doctorates in law and were perfectly trained to administer the ever-expanding realm of the RSHA.

     Totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union operate on several levels. You have the official state apparatus which is called the “Normative State” and then you have the “Prerogative State” which exists and operates outside the normal boundaries of the State and Society. The “Prerogative State” consists of paramilitary militias, the secret police, informers, etc. Both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union relied on the police to maintain control and not the army (which was co-opted, infiltrated, etc.). The real rule of the secret police, according to Hanna Arendt, begins when domestic opposition (traditional political foes) ends (usually through extermination) and then the search for “objective” foes begins.

    This is an excellent book for those who are genuinely interested in this subject. It traces numerous individuals, often from their university days through their movement within the RSHA. With no indication of previous thoughts or actions, top university students move from studies to anti-Semitism to active participation in the shooting of hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of men, women, and children. And in the end, after the war, the overwhelming majority went back to Germany and led ordinary lives. Some became government officials in post-war Germany while others became police officials and even members of the bar. How those men who had ordered and participated in the slaughter of thousands could escape any form of retribution is due in part to the post-war fear of the Soviet Union, the efforts of the average Germans to deny any knowledge of crimes and blame it all on the highly visible SS, the ignorance of the victors about the organization of the Nazi state and smart politicians such as Konrad Adenauer who managed to play East against West in his effort to resurrect the new German state.

Thousands of youthful, idealistic minds were bent to oppressing others all in the name of a greater good. It should serve as a lesson to responsible adults that youth throughout history are more easily led by demigods and that indulging them in their folly without adult guidance can lead to terrible, even deadly consequences.

     This is not an easy book to read as it is extremely detailed, and the novice will quickly be lost in the details. But for anyone interested in this fascinating subject, it is well worth the effort.