Although World War II ended almost 65 years ago, it remains a popular topic for discussion. It has been remembered by people who lived through it, by politicians and historians. It has been taught in our schools and is still discussed with much bitterness by those whose families were changed forever. Many books, both fiction and non-fiction have been written about it. To the winning Allies in the West, the war represented the most important event in the 20th century.
And now emerges a first-time author, Charles McCain, who has written a dazzling novel of the war—but from the perspective of a young German naval lieutenant, Max Brekendorf. Max is stationed on a ‘pocket’ battleship,honoring a German WWI ship, the ‘Graf Spee.' As the tides of war begin to change, Max starts to get a different perspective on the events that are evolving around the globe. He worries about the people back in Germany, especially his fiancé, Mareth.
McCain has done his research well, one can feel himself on the deck of the battleship as it plows the South Atlantic seeking to destroy Allied vessels, especially freighters carrying much needed supplies to Europe. However, the Graf Spee is trapped off the coast of neutral Argentina by the British, and his captain is forced to scuttle the ship. Max and his friend, Dieter eventually escape from South America and are assigned a less glamorous ship stationed in the Far East. As the war evolves during the 40s Max must come face to face with the ever changing tides of war.
This is a fascinating story of war from a perspective few of us have ever known. An excellent first book for Charles McCain.
Stephen Bank
Cary Library
5 comments:
thank you for your thoughtful review of my novel. I wrote the first draft of the novel in the early 1980s then for various reasons I stopped writing. But I was always reading and reading and reading books on German history, the Third Reich, U-Boats and every book I could find on the German Navy. All the scenes in the novel are based--some loosely---on an actual event which happened. All of the small details in the book are absolutely true. I even went to Berlin specifically to pace off the distance from the Unter Den Linden to the Tiergarten and the location of the flak tower which is where the entrance to the Berlin Zoo now is. Although I have lots of maps of Berlin I wanted to make sure one could run through the Tiergarten quickly and make sure it wasn't as big as central park. It isn't. It's quite small. It's been a labor of love over many years and I am very pleased you enjoyed reading it.
Yours respectfully,
Charles McCain
author of An Honorable German
Thanks, Charles! I forwarded your comments to Steve Banks. I'm sure he'll like to hear them.
Good luck with AN HONORABLE GERMAN!
Molly
Charles, Thank you for your kind words. I've always had a fascination with WWII and although there were certainly enough bad Germans to go around , there were many good Germans. In fact, many of them have even been recognized by the state of Israel. I am going to try very hard to get the Wake County Library system, where I work part time to purchase copies of your book for our collection.
Steve Bank
thank you! If you want me to talk to them then let me know. Do you have a hardback or a galley proof?
If you have a hardback you can give them yours and I will send you a signed hardback. I notice when I google the novel that lots and lots of libraries are buying it. Where is wake county???
thank you! If you want me to talk to them then let me know. Do you have a hardback or a galley proof?
If you have a hardback you can give them yours and I will send you a signed hardback. I notice when I google the novel that lots and lots of libraries are buying it. Where is wake county???
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