An Obsolete Honor: A Story of the German Resistance to Hitler by Helena P SchraderAn Obsolete Honor follows the stories of different people and families in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. It shares their fears and concerns about Hitler and the direction their country is taking under his reign. We see the lengths that many Germans went through to follow their own beliefs and morals despite being always in danger of getting caught and tried for treason. We see the simple act of putting shoes on "Polish workers" and letting them live as humans instead of slaves, forging of credentials and id's for Jewish families, and the planning behind Operation Valkyrie, the plot to assassinate Hitler and take over the government.
It is very evident that there was a lot of research done for this book. The historical events are intertwined perfectly with the narrative and held my attention for most of the 568 pages. The drama is gripping and hard to turn away from. The only time I started to lose interest was for the few chapters that focused entirely on military tactics. It was easy to get lost and confused trying to keep track of all the regiments, officers and names of villages. However, the story continues quickly and the pace picks back up all the way to the conclusion.
I highly recommend everyone who is interested in WWII but is not a fan of reading historical texts like I am to read this. This book is perfect because it gives the history of the events with the drama of how it could have effected people's lives. It makes you feel like you are there and experiencing it as it happened.
4/5
Sounds like an awesome book. I love reading stories about that are set behind the scenes of Nazi Germany.
ReplyDeleteI do, too, LuAnn--I enjoyed this review a lot!
ReplyDeleteThis was my first book that focused on Germans during WWII. I really liked seeing it through a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed the review, Sadako. :)
This book has such a haunting cover, and it sounds like a very good read. There are so many books set around the history of the victims of WWII but not so many from the pov of the Germans, who were also victims of a sort. Great review.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is actually explained in the book. It is where traitors were hung. You can see the meat hooks if you look very closely. Very haunting.
ReplyDeleteYou're review is posted here: http://warthroughthegenerations.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/reviews-an-obsolete-honor-by-helena-p-schrader/
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll join us for the 2010 challenge on the Vietnam War