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HHhH

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HHhH

Written by: Laurent Binet
Narrated by: John Lee
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HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The most dangerous man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich was known as the "Butcher of Prague." He was feared by all and loathed by most. With his cold Aryan features and implacable cruelty, Heydrich seemed indestructible - until two men, a Slovak and a Czech recruited by the British secret service - killed him in broad daylight on a bustling street in Prague, and thus changed the course of History.

Who were these men, arguably two of the most discreet heroes of the twentieth century? In Laurent Binet's captivating debut novel, we follow Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to England; from their recruitment to their harrowing parachute drop into a war zone, from their stealth attack on Heydrich's car to their own brutal death in the basement of a Prague church.

A seemingly effortlessly blend of historical truth, personal memory, and Laurent Binet's remarkable imagination, HHhH- an international best seller and winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman - is a work at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing, a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the nature of writing and the debt we owe to history.

©2009 Editions Grasset et Fasquelle. Translation from the French copyright 2012 by Sam Taylor (P)2012 Tantor
Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War Imperialism Holocaust
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What the critics say

"This fluid translation by Taylor is a superb choice for lovers of historical literary works and even international thrillers. Most highly recommended." ( Library Journal)
“Captivating . . . [ HHhH] has a vitality very different from that of most historical fiction.” ( The New Yorker)
“[ HHhH is] a marvelous, charming, engaging novel.” ( Los Angeles Times)
All stars
Most Relevant
Don’t listen to the other review. This book is excellent. Very original. John Lee at his best.

Excellent

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Second reading for this book, which gains a great deal from the narrator’s ability—especially his wonderfully unnerving falsetto voice for Heydrich. The documentation is impressive and the historical material compelling, but Binet can be a bit pompous and rather too full of himself. And really, after borrowing so heavily from Daniel Mendelsohn’s narrative style, the least he could do is give him a nod…

When narrator outshines author…

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the story is riveting but Binet spends so much if the narrative talking about himself that it is annoying and distracting. read some other account of this story or watch the movies. take a pass on this book.

like a strange doctoral dissertation

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