The Berlin Warning

by Nicholas Guild

A gambit to force America's entry into World War II has Whitehall spymasters enlist American David Steadman for a crucial mission that soon sets him up as a target for both the Nazis and the British

Genres: Historical Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1984

About the author

Nicholas Guild was born in Belmont, California in 1944. He graduated from Occidental College with a B.A. in English in 1966 and from the University of California at Berkeley with an M.A. in Comparative Literature (1968) and a Ph.D. in English (1972). Since then he has divided his time between teaching and writing. He currently lives in Frederick, MD.

Reviews

[Fonch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen, I begin this review with great sadness to learn of the death of the latest Inklings Christopher Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... I pray to people, to have faith that they pray for their souls, and to people who profess no faith as Gladiator would say: Honor him. It would also be a good time and this is a personal request, so that the novels of his grandson Simon Tolkien https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (despite having nothing to do with his illustrious grandfather's novels) be edited in Spain (I know what it is to live in the shadow of an illustrious father and grandfather) and therefore deserves a chance. We'll devote a special tribute to Christopher Tolkien. I've got something in mind for him.
Having said that I'm going to start with this review. It has great merit Nicholas Guild, and that speaks of her infinite skill as a writer, that her novel has managed to pass my court, despite the prejudices, that she had like her. Because I couldn't find so many prejudices, to dislike me more. But to Caesar what is Caesar's, or rather to Nicholas Guild, what is Nicholas Guild's. That is why the enormous antipathy, generated by the main character of the novel David Steadman, even though we are told that the main character of this novel is not communist, and that he is the son of a wealthy American businessman Frederick Steadman (worse he puts it on). This is one of the big problems that Nicholas Guild has to deal with, and he has an extremely unfriendly hero, and very unattractive. It is not the first time that this has happened to Nicholas Guild, since in his novel "The Spartan Dagger" he felt more sympathy, despite the inhumane society that the Spartans formed with the Spartan , that with the ilota slave protagonist of the novel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... (in fact this novel has the same flaw as in "The Spartan Dagger" although here there is more explanation. It is not understood how the protagonist is able to get rid of his enemies so easily. Although in the novel "Berlin Notice" we see that he is an adult and well-trained protagonist, unlike the ilota of "The Spartan Dagger") Also in one of my favorite novels "The Assyrian" which for me is a postmodern version of Mika Waltari's "The Egyptian" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... . It could be summarized in What would have happened if Sinuhe had followed his first impulse, had decided to become military as his friend the son of the cheser Horemheb? It's true that Tiglath likes us better than Asarhadon, Nabusharasur, Arad Malik and Naquia. But the character I liked the most about the novel was its incestuous and nymphomaniac sister Princess Shaditu (in fact, it's one of my favorite fictional characters). Why do I like such an immoral character? I have already mentioned it before I have no middle ground I like women or very sinners, or very holy ones. In fact, I may not like "Blood Star" so much, because Shaditu came out very little (although it is also a great novel, and worthy heir to Mika Waltari's fiction, especially on the Egyptian side). Perhaps only in "The Macedonian" is more interesting the hero than his villains. But of course the hero of the novel is Philip II https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... In fact (returning to the hero of "Warning from Berlin"), except that he fights the Nazis this character has no remarkable virtue. His nemesis is much more sympathetic, the SS officer. Egon Weinschek. I don't like a Nazi going so well, because I've already said it in the annex. Just like Indiana Jones. He hated the Nazis. That's not to say that there can't be good Nazis like Strasser (one of Hitler's first victims), and whose biography was written by Joseph Pearce although he couldn't publish it, as he says in his autobiography https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... we have the case of Rabbe who did everything he could to stop the Nanking genocide. We have the case of Julius Schlegel, who did his best to save works of art. We have the excellent case of Father Gereon Goldmann who had to interrupt his stay at the seminary, and was forcibly registered as part of the SS. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... We also have the case of Harrer (although in the end abomination of Nazism) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... who cared so much about the genocide caused by the Chinese Communists in Tibet. He's not a Nazi, but they were served by Oskar Schindler https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... Anyway as I told my friend Fiorella Nash https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... This character, who gave his best in the World War (saving Jews, such as Perlasca, or Angel Sanz Briz). How does a Jewish friend of mine say in the light of so many alleged Saviors of Jews. If there had been so many as they say there would have been no Shoa, no holocaust. However, without disdaining the work of Schindler, his wife and his team, saying that Schindler lost a lot when there was no war. The worst thing about Schindler is how womanizing he was, and how inconsiderate he was with his wife. Amen he wasn't even a great businessman, but what he had to do did. These were not Nazis, but his work should not be forgotten https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... by José María García Pelegrín It would not be wrong to conclude this part of the subject without loar the last film by Terrence Malick https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film5... perhaps one of the most well-sounded absences from this year's Academy Awards). But it is normal that in an evil system evil people prevail, and good people are exceptional. I don't think Winscheck is a good person either, but it's more humane than Steadman, and the reader can forget that Steadman belongs to a genocidal regime, and demonic like the Nazi. It will empathize more with Weinscheck the SS officer, than with David Steadman. It's sad, but from the first pages Egon Weinscheck wins the hearts of readers. Of course, it's a loose verse in the SS. Where Darwinism reigns, and only the survival of those who lick the ass of those who rule. The struggles between the Nazis are very well counted by the Guild especially those of Ribbentrop and Himmler, and also the envy and jealousy of the Nazis themselves (in fact, the SS. They will be an autonomous and independent unit, which will make their own decisions, sometimes contrary to Hitler's. But of course Weinscheck's way of behaving is admirable. Surprisingly, whoever appears first in the novel is not Steadman, but Weinscheck. We're starting to like him for the way he treats his assistant Max. Nazism would have told you that it is useless to sacrifice it, because only pure people deserve to exist (in fact following and taking away the positions of Anglophone countries see the defense that Maximilian Schell's character makes in "Judgement at Nuremberg" https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film1... (it is seen that the Nazis would not have developed their euthanasia programmes without the participation in the countries of British descent of the Darwinists, and defenders of eugenics. Let us remember the contacts between Nazi party leaders and Family Planned Parenthood creator Margaret Sanger, neither the positions of Galton, Leonard Darwin, nor Graham Bell, nor the laws of some states like Virginia. These laws preceded the Nazi legislation on euthanasia, eugenics, and forced sterilizations.) Hence Nazism's attempts to implant euthanasia. So it's surprising, that he has mercy on him, and shares his fate. I don't think, a lot of SS leaders. They would have had such a procedure. Admittedly, Max is not mentally deficient, but was rendered useless when during the war Steadman slit his throat, miraculously saving himself. Weinscheck will also be touched and we will find him more human because of the way he treats his unfaithful person, who since his fiasco in Spain has lost his passion and deceives him either with a Romanian diplomat Ion Lupescu, or with his boss in the SS. Nebe. He is also a man of honor, and although he is relentless and ruthless, as the reader who decides to read this novel will see. So is Steadman, who as if I were Rambo is carrying everything he sees https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... .First_Blood?ac=1&from_search=true &qid=V2RcQQiEOy&rank=1 There's another reason why I personally like Steadman, and it's besides participating in a side that dislikes me. Her attitude to the story heroine Katherine Windermere, who is married to a crippled pilot, and as if she were the protagonist of "Lady Chaterley's Lover" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... has lost his passion for him, and he only stands by pity or by memories with his mad youth, but to her whom he truly loves is David Steadman, whom he is attached to in this mission, and whom he defends by cloak and sword. Yet I find his action of Steadman wrong (and here I have my lips sealed) and I can't say more, but the reader from what I've told him will already imagine what's going on. One of the things I didn't like is the anglophobia of history. I don't know if i've been upset, but It's certainly surprised me, but I haven't seen such an anti-British novel since Leon Uris's "Exodus" https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (which practically makes us believe that the English are more anti-Semitic than the Nazis, and pro-Arabs) or the hilarious sequel to William Goldman's "Marathon Man" "Brothers" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... where there is a plot by the English, to dominate the world. It is true that one of the villains is an Englishman Brian Horton, who as a monkey in heat also drinks the winds for Lady Windermere. It is true, that the English have made infinite candlesticks, filled leaves, and leaves telling them, but it is still a little petty, as Nicholas Guild portrays them. Winston Churchill's vision is surprising. That he is hated in my country on the left for opposing communism, as on the right. I remember when Gary Oldman was nominated for an Oscar for "The Darkest Hour, " the wave of hate unleashed on Churchill. It is true, he made mistakes, Galipolli, trusttius Titus, abandoning the Poles, repression in Ireland, desire to sterilize the Hindu population, wanted to bomb Rome, and was responsible for the bombings in Dresden, and Hamburg, but let us remember that Hitler wanted To cover England, and Nazism should not be tolerated at all, because it was evil and perverse, no longer offends so much that it is undemocratic, but it was exclusionary, racist, and valued the use of force. Something like that should never be tolerated. But thanks to this man he did not intervene in Spain, that Roosevelt was crazy to intervene in Spain. Nor did Evelyn Waugh, who had a love-hate relationship with her son, have no sympathy. But whether we like it or not. This man won the war, and Evelyn Waugh despite his antipathy recognized him. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... I think, if there's one thing Winston Churchill's reproach to be, it's to have had to give in to the Communists, and fill the country with them, but that's as Evelyn Waugh did, and that's not where Nicholas Guild's criticisms go. I like the action to take place in Sweden, which according to left-wing writers such as Stieg Larsson https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or Hening Mankell https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... is full of Nazis. The author pulls it with Flash Backs that tells us about Steadman's experience in the war. The action scenes are formidable, and are very well described. As well as the way he steals the Nazi's mail, but I'm not surprised at all by the magnificent writer of "Assyrian" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... . One of the interesting things, unfortunately the author does not exploit it too much is the content of the message. This message is so extraordinary, it could have changed the fate of the war, and brought the Thriller novel to the realm of ucronía. I've already discussed this topic in my review of Jo Walton's "Farthing" https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
(The review continues in the comments)

[Victor Bruneski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of good books lately, but I think it has been awhile since I have read one that I couldn't put it down. That all changed with The Berlin Warning.

The story is about that old conspiracy theory that President Roosevelt knew about the Pearl Harbor bombing before it happened. Sort of. Instead of President Roosevelt, it is the British who know (and the Germans), and they will kill to keep that secret safe.

The Germans don't want the US to enter the war, so they send a letter signed by Adolf himself to President Roosevelt warning him of an imminent attack by the Japanese. The British want to intercept the letter before it reaches Roosevelt. Their choice is an American named David Steadman, just in case things go wrong. They warn him not to look at the contents when he finds it. Of course he does, and find himself in big doo doo, stuck in German controlled Europe with both the Germans and British looking to both torture and kill him when they find him.

The book has to be one of the best thrillers that I have ever read. It pretty much kept me on the edge of my seat the entire way through. Halfway through the novel I thought to myself what a great movie this would make. Of course having he hero of the story as a communist and the British as bad guys probably wouldn't sell the script very fast.

Steadman is a great protagonist. He is an American, a communist and fought for the Republicans in the Spanish civil war, where he earned the name "The Cutter". I'll let your imagination fill you in why he had that name.

He has to main antagonists. One is Brian Horton, a desk soldier for the British Military who gives Steadman his mission, and Weinschenk, who is part of the German SS. Weinschenk plays well off of Steadman, as he has a long history with him going back to the Spanish Civil War, different sides of the same coin.

This is not an alternate history, so it is surprising that he keeps you guessing what the end will be until...the end.

This is a great read for not just people into conspiracy theories, but an thriller fan out there. Unfortunately the book is impossible to find, I had to read the kindle version, which I usually avoid at all costs. I'm glad I did.

[JOAQUIN · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5-7