About the Book
"An astonishing true story of courage, love, and betrayal, told with the verve of a thriller. Freedland is a master at weaving spellbinding entertainments drawn from forgotten corners of history."--Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow Horses
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist, an extraordinary true story of resistance, heroism and betrayal.
When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.
Berlin, 1943: A group of high society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer's afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo.
They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering head mistress. What unites every one of them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance: meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer's rule. Or so they believe.
How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap?
Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruelest men, they showed a heroism in the face of the most vengeful regime in history that raises the question: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?
About the Author :
Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and former foreign correspondent. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4's contemporary history series, The Long View, as well as two popular podcasts, Politics Weekly America and Unholy, the latter alongside the journalist Yonit Levi. He is the author of twelve other books, including the award-winning The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World.
Review :
"Extraordinarily cinematic . . . . Freedland makes his narrative into a tense cat-and-mouse game, pitting sadistic Nazi apparatchiks and their unsavory minions against prey whose considerable resources, privileged sense of entitlement, and sheer moxie give them a fighting chance. It's a thrilling account of the struggle against Nazism at its most up-close and nerve-wracking." -- Publishers Weekly
"Vivid portraits of a group of admirable anti-Nazis . . . excellent history of heroes who defied Hitler." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Magnificent . . . . The book's set-up--clear location, colourful characters, clandestine villain--is very much that of a thriller, and Freedland . . . writes with verve and pace . . . . It's testament to Freedland's skill that if you go in blind you will be not only trying to work out who the mole is ahead of time, but also desperately hoping that it won't be one of those characters who you've admired and rooted for." -- Telegraph (UK)
"In this absolutely riveting book, Freedland shines a light on a little-known yet vitally important part of WWII history . . . . Freedland . . . is a wonderful storyteller; this is no dry recitation of historical facts, but a gripping, true-to-life thriller, full of suspense, intrigue, and beautifully described real-life characters. A must-read for devotees of WWII-era nonfiction." -- Booklist
"An astonishing true story of courage, love and betrayal, told with the verve of a thriller. Freedland is a master at weaving spellbinding entertainments drawn from forgotten corners of history." -- Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow Horses
"Utterly gripping, brilliantly researched and written." -- Anthony Horowitz
"Freedland's done it again. Thrilling, moving and inspiring, The Traitors Circle is a brilliant Second World War history book, as exciting as a novel and filled with extraordinary characters--some heroic and some evil--that is also both a portrait of courage, humanity and resistance against Nazi tyranny and a twisting tale of conspiracy and espionage." -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The World: A Family History
"In this excellent new book, Jonathan Freedland tells a gripping story but also asks a timely question: Why do some people collaborate? Why do others fight tyrants? The Traitors Circle is both history and parable, perfect reading for this moment." -- Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy Inc.
"Haunting and heart-poundingly suspenseful--an extraordinary exploration of moral courage in a world overwhelmed by Nazi darkness. Freedland's passionate narrative takes us into secret and sometimes surprising corners of Hitler's Germany. In those shadows of vicious totalitarianism and betrayal--and facing the abyss of the Holocaust--is a circle of friends who embody unwavering human decency and faith and love. Freedland's powerful storytelling has intense resonance in today's darkening world. The moral questions are eternal.' -- Sinclair McKay, bestselling author of Dresden
"A story of unlikely rebels who had much to lose from resisting the Nazi regime, which so many of their peers supported. What made them trade personal safety for moral rectitude? Freedland's answer is as tense as a thriller yet perceptive, thoughtful and thoroughly researched. It made me think long after I'd turned the last page." -- Katja Hoyer, bestselling author of Beyond the Wall
"The Traitors Circle rivals Freedland's superb The Escape Artist. A revelatory account of heroism and treachery in Nazi Germany, it based on original research and reads like a thriller. Totally gripping and timely." -- Jonathan Dimbleby, author of Endgame: 1944
"Though every word is true, this remarkable book reads like a novel. Part thriller, part adventure story, part Holocaust history, it is a searing memorial to the half-million Germans who died opposing Hitler, as well as the six million Jews he killed. The narrative style is gripping; the morality searing. This is how the best history books will be written in the future." -- Andrew Roberts, author Churchill: Walking with Destiny
"The Traitors Circle is not only a thrilling, humane, and deeply moving account of heroism, espionage, and betrayal in the Third Reich--it is the best sort of history, one whose rich characters breathe life and perspective into our present circumstance. Haunting, and not to be missed." -- David McCloskey, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Seventh Floor
"Freedland has an uncanny ability to combine deep historical research with the pace and tension of a thriller. Told through the eyes of masterfully-detailed characters, this tale reminds us that tyranny, treachery and bravery go hand in hand. Sadly, that sense of fear is, once again, not far away from us now." -- John Kampfner, bestselling author of In Search of Berlin
"Written like a novel, this tale of heroism, camaraderie, betrayal and tragedy will leave a lasting impression. It is a salutary reminder that history can inspire, even in the darkest of times." -- John Bew, bestselling author of Citizen Clem, Professor in History and Foreign Policy, King's College London
"Gripping, chilling, inspiring--Jonathan Freedland has a unique gift for exploring history's most profound questions with the urgency of a news reporter and the stylistic flair of a great novelist." -- Rafael Behr
"Riveting . . . . The Escape Artist includes harrowing details about Auschwitz that still have the power to shock. But the reactions to Vrba's testimony by those in power--ranging from lack of interest to outright antisemitism--are nearly as horrifying. . . . The next time an abyss yawns before us--whether it be in Kyiv or in Washington, D.C.--we owe it to them to stare into it." -- New York Times
"Raw and gripping . . . [a] compelling portrait of this neglected hero of Holocaust resistance leaves an inescapable imprint of a past now in danger of being minimized or forgotten. . . . It's time to honor him for the incredible feat that helped save so many Jewish lives from Nazi extermination." -- Wall Street Journal
"A brilliant and heart-wrenching book, with universal and timely lessons about the power of information - and misinformation. Is it possible to stop mass murder by telling the truth?" -- Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
"This isn't a book just about Auschwitz, it's also a deeply moving biography about Rudolf the man including his (entirely understandably) tempestuous and troubled life after the war. He died almost forgotten, and Freedland's brilliant research and writing rightly resurrect him. His story must be told and read: a brave man who did his best to warn a world which wouldn't listen." -- Financial Times
"I thought I knew the Auschwitz story, but Freedland retells it from a fresh angle so powerfully that I read it with my heart beating fast, full of horror, rage, despair - and admiration for this potent demonstration of the stubborn resilience of the human spirit." -- Tracy Chevalier, bestselling author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring
