Product Description

"Fatherland" is set in an alternative world where Hitler has won the Second World War. It is April 1964 and one week before Hitler's 75th birthday, Xavier March, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei, is called out to investigate the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin's most prestigious suburb. As March discovers the identity of the body, he uncovers signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich. And, with the Gestapo just one step behind, March, together with an American journalist, is caught up in a race to discover and reveal the truth - a truth that has already killed, a truth that could topple governments, a truth that will change history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4931 in Books
• Published on: 1993-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Robert Harris was born in Nottingham in 1957 and is a graduate of Cambridge University. He has been a reporter on the BBC's Newsnight and Panorama programmes, Political Editor of the Observer, and a columnist on The Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph. In 2003 he was named Columnist of the Year in the British Press Awards. He is the author of the number one bestsellers Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel and Pompeii, as well as five nonfiction books. He lives in Berkshire with his wife and four children.

Customer Reviews

Wow - that was great!
Fatherland is such a good read! I'm probably like everyone else who picked up this to read...I wanted to see what might have happened 'If....'

Alternate history intrigues me and I think this particular point in history is one of the most speculated about when it comes to 'what if's'.

To begin with I found it hard to lose myself in the alternate reality because my mind kept trying to correct what I was reading and saying 'No, no, no, that's now how it was/is'. But several chapters in and I was sucked into the pages and loving it.

Some might say the characters are a bit hackneyed; loner cop, dumped by his wife for overworking, estranged from his kid, meets much younger feisty heroine who he hooks up with no problem, antagonist is a bad bully with no redeeming features....and, and, and. You get the idea. But really, why fix it if it isn't broken? All those very things and more are what make this book great. The alternate ending to WWII means we're taken out of our comfort zone and these other constants give us something familiar to work with.

That's where the familiarity ends though, the story itself is slick, well constructed and highly enjoyable but imaginative use of 'what if' takes us to places that I for one am glad I'll never see. Don't expect any happy endings, in this fantasy regime, things are grim. There's everything to hope for and nothing to lose.

I've given this to my dad to read and he loved it too. He lived through things the first time around and says Robert Harris has put into words everything he feared at the time and he's glad he only had to read it not live it.

If you're gonna read one book, read this...
I bought this book to read on a train journey home a few years ago. The journey lasted about an hour and a half, but I finally put the book down after reading the final word of the final page at 4am the next morning. Apart from showing my ticket to the conductor I don't think I talked to anyone in between. I was hooked. I even ignored the pretty brunette sat opposite me. Set in 1964, with Hitler having won the war and ruling over a Greater German Reich, a German policeman investigates a supposedly routine death and ends up uncovering a secret that some people will go to any length to protect. A great read that will leave an impact on you years after your first read.

a great read as well as thought provoking
Fatherland is a cracking good yarn, a highly readable story of political intrigue and personal secrets. The plot moves swiftly and intelligently, building to an ending which is both intriguing and awesomely plausible. Above all, Harris draws a fascinating and all too believable picture of a Europe reshaped and defined by German victory at the end of World War II, a vision which not only intrigues and reminds one that history could have been very different, but also reinforces the view that history is written by the winning side. While not great literature by any means, this is a thought provoking book, and seriously recommended for its readability.