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Diary of a Dead Man on Leave
From bestselling author David Downing, master of historical espionage, comes a heart-wrenching depiction of Germany in the days leading up to World War II and the difficult choices of one man of conviction.
In April 1938, a man calling himself Josef Hofmann arrives at a boarding house in Hamm, Germany, and lets a room from the widow who owns it. Fifty years later, Walter Gersdorff, the widow’s son, who was eleven years old in the spring of 1938, discovers the carefully hidden diary the boarder had kept during his stay, even though he should never have written any of its contents down.
What Walter finds is a scathing chronicle of one the most tumultuous years in German history, narrated by a secret agent on a deadly mission. Josef Hofmann was not the returned Argentinian immigrant he’d said he was—he was a communist spy under Moscow’s command to try to reconnect with any remnants of Germany’s suppressed communist party. Hofmann’s bosses believe the common workers are the only way to stop the German war machine from within. Posing as a railroad man, Hofmann sets out on his game of “Russian roulette,” approaching Hamm’s ex-party members one at a time and delicately feeling out their allegiances. He always knew his mission would most likely end in his death, and he was satisfied to make that sacrifice for the revolution if it could help stop Hitler and his abominable ideology. But as he grows close to the Gersdorffs, accidentally stepping into the role of the father Walter never had, Hofmann begins to wish for another kind of hope in his life.
In April 1938, a man calling himself Josef Hofmann arrives at a boarding house in Hamm, Germany, and lets a room from the widow who owns it. Fifty years later, Walter Gersdorff, the widow’s son, who was eleven years old in the spring of 1938, discovers the carefully hidden diary the boarder had kept during his stay, even though he should never have written any of its contents down.
What Walter finds is a scathing chronicle of one the most tumultuous years in German history, narrated by a secret agent on a deadly mission. Josef Hofmann was not the returned Argentinian immigrant he’d said he was—he was a communist spy under Moscow’s command to try to reconnect with any remnants of Germany’s suppressed communist party. Hofmann’s bosses believe the common workers are the only way to stop the German war machine from within. Posing as a railroad man, Hofmann sets out on his game of “Russian roulette,” approaching Hamm’s ex-party members one at a time and delicately feeling out their allegiances. He always knew his mission would most likely end in his death, and he was satisfied to make that sacrifice for the revolution if it could help stop Hitler and his abominable ideology. But as he grows close to the Gersdorffs, accidentally stepping into the role of the father Walter never had, Hofmann begins to wish for another kind of hope in his life.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2019
384 people are currently reading
2635 people want to read
About the author
David Downing
123 books497 followersDavid Downing is the author of a political thriller, two alternative histories and a number of books on military and political history and other subjects as diverse as Neil Young and Russian Football.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
April 22, 2019
The exception that makes the dirge mood pile of current mounds of WWII era books look and read like the pap of sentimentality tracts which most of them are.
IMHO, no one does the 20 years before Hitler within Germany as David Downing. This one isn't as Berlin identified as the Station books, nor is it as complex for length and intersects; but it's very nearly a 5 star book nevertheless. It's a full 4.5 stars.
It's just the right length. Also holds one of those "afterwards" epilogue reviews as the ending which is looking back 50 years later with the "facts" of outcomes for a dozen or two individuals within the 1938 action. Dangerous, dangerous times to disagree with the "correct" values; and when individuals needed to exchange goods, duties, work etc. in some kind of equity while being told that "our values" toward collective progress are these exact sets of particular somethings. But within the individual's gut feelings for such exchanges which clearly conflict? Are you "allowed" to say your feelings aren't meshing with "our values"? And also in who/which of closest in-house associate and friendship might be paving the path to your relocation or to your seduction. Or both. For "our values" of positive enthusiasm. Who is a peer? Who is apolitical? Who is lovable? And far more than all of that, who is trustworthy to plain everyday conversations.
Everyday life is particular of moment to moment placements in this household. The reader gets a seat in the boarding house at the dining room table for the breakfast meal, for the evening meal. You can feel the power threats, and the tension in the room. The attractions and the moods of personality too. And the 12 year old, Walter, is beyond finely drawn. He's a wonder.
A spy story from the eyes of a Communist true believer written within his window pane hidden journal as it is lived. Narrator memories are as cutting and other continent nuanced as a non-fiction history. And beyond just ONE other continent- on 3 others. The brutality at "home" as ominous as the nebulous future of the next cell "boss" crossing.
Highly recommend this look into intimidation and how "calling out" and judging and revisionist taught history and schooling can roam and did for the brand in this era. Only one side's "eyes" speech allowed and the others forbidden and denied entry. Correct and "we think/group think" as it evolves and operates. And double speech controls and censorship for "safety" reasons to the supposedly youngest and unprotected . A most timely, timely book.
IMHO, no one does the 20 years before Hitler within Germany as David Downing. This one isn't as Berlin identified as the Station books, nor is it as complex for length and intersects; but it's very nearly a 5 star book nevertheless. It's a full 4.5 stars.
It's just the right length. Also holds one of those "afterwards" epilogue reviews as the ending which is looking back 50 years later with the "facts" of outcomes for a dozen or two individuals within the 1938 action. Dangerous, dangerous times to disagree with the "correct" values; and when individuals needed to exchange goods, duties, work etc. in some kind of equity while being told that "our values" toward collective progress are these exact sets of particular somethings. But within the individual's gut feelings for such exchanges which clearly conflict? Are you "allowed" to say your feelings aren't meshing with "our values"? And also in who/which of closest in-house associate and friendship might be paving the path to your relocation or to your seduction. Or both. For "our values" of positive enthusiasm. Who is a peer? Who is apolitical? Who is lovable? And far more than all of that, who is trustworthy to plain everyday conversations.
Everyday life is particular of moment to moment placements in this household. The reader gets a seat in the boarding house at the dining room table for the breakfast meal, for the evening meal. You can feel the power threats, and the tension in the room. The attractions and the moods of personality too. And the 12 year old, Walter, is beyond finely drawn. He's a wonder.
A spy story from the eyes of a Communist true believer written within his window pane hidden journal as it is lived. Narrator memories are as cutting and other continent nuanced as a non-fiction history. And beyond just ONE other continent- on 3 others. The brutality at "home" as ominous as the nebulous future of the next cell "boss" crossing.
Highly recommend this look into intimidation and how "calling out" and judging and revisionist taught history and schooling can roam and did for the brand in this era. Only one side's "eyes" speech allowed and the others forbidden and denied entry. Correct and "we think/group think" as it evolves and operates. And double speech controls and censorship for "safety" reasons to the supposedly youngest and unprotected . A most timely, timely book.
August 7, 2019
I haven’t come across too many historical fiction books that are told from a Comintern rep’s perspective, so I was definitely intrigued by the premise. It’s not an action-packed type of thriller, and that was perhaps the best part about it (I was afraid it could turn into one and I’m more of a fan of literary-inclined historical fiction, where the plot is mostly centered around the characters’ moral dilemmas). The protagonist, Josef Hoffmann - a fake name, of course - is perfectly believable and real. He is sent to Germany, his home country, with the task to organize a communist resistance/sabotage cell, but instead of throwing himself into action and jumping from one conspiracy apartment to another and narrowly escaping the Gestapo in every other chapter, he finds himself connecting closer and closer with his landlady Anna’s family while cautiously probing the men in his new workplace for their allegiances. I imagine that’s exactly how it was for the people of his profession - no glamorous car chases or shootings but really cautious, monotonous work - and this authenticity is what I enjoyed immensely about this novel. Josef’s relationship with Walter, Anna’s youngest son, was very touching to read about. At the same time, Josef’s reservations concerning getting too close to the family are also all too understandable, just like his questioning of his own allegiances and priorities.
The research is brilliant here and definitely comes alive with every page and every scene. It’s in small details of Nazi Germany’s everyday life and really transports you into a world on the verge of a new war. I enjoyed it immensely and I’ll definitely be reading more from the author. Highly recommended to all fans of the historical fiction genre.
The research is brilliant here and definitely comes alive with every page and every scene. It’s in small details of Nazi Germany’s everyday life and really transports you into a world on the verge of a new war. I enjoyed it immensely and I’ll definitely be reading more from the author. Highly recommended to all fans of the historical fiction genre.
February 16, 2021
Hey I'm a David Downing fan. Read all (but one, his newest) of his 'Station novels' and this one, though not in the series, fits right in there, time, place, sensibilities, the whole shebang.
Josef Hoffman is a Communist agent, his life's mission: to convert the willing, to move about, plant a few seeds, attend a few rallies, encourage those of a like mind where and when he can, to give a nudge, plant a bomb, do his best...
Yes, he's willing to resort to violence, only when absolutely necessary. So how can such a figure turn into such a sympathetic one? He travels from Argentina to return 'home' to Germany, see what he can do, 1939, to turn the party members back, and take advantage, if at all possible, of an unstable, restless country looking for something to make them forget the 'Great War' which has left them all suffering. Inflation. No jobs. No future. Yes, these people are ripe for Josef.
So he takes a job in the railroads, hunting for those old, lost souls who once believed Marxism, Communism was the way to go. Of course, the Nazis are hunting those very souls, too. Problem is this, Josef, for all his convictions, is human, too. He boards with a family: widow, young son, older son, sickly father and a few other boarders. He gets drawn into their lives and in the end has to decide: the party or the young boy who needs him?
It's a painful story in many ways, sympathetic to the lot of the 'good' Germans who were mowed down along with the other 'undesirables' the Nazis hated and hoped to stamp out. It's a different POV for sure.
But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in this time and place, it's hard to find such a deeply arresting and personal story of one man - and his convictions - put to such a difficult test.
Five stars.
Josef Hoffman is a Communist agent, his life's mission: to convert the willing, to move about, plant a few seeds, attend a few rallies, encourage those of a like mind where and when he can, to give a nudge, plant a bomb, do his best...
Yes, he's willing to resort to violence, only when absolutely necessary. So how can such a figure turn into such a sympathetic one? He travels from Argentina to return 'home' to Germany, see what he can do, 1939, to turn the party members back, and take advantage, if at all possible, of an unstable, restless country looking for something to make them forget the 'Great War' which has left them all suffering. Inflation. No jobs. No future. Yes, these people are ripe for Josef.
So he takes a job in the railroads, hunting for those old, lost souls who once believed Marxism, Communism was the way to go. Of course, the Nazis are hunting those very souls, too. Problem is this, Josef, for all his convictions, is human, too. He boards with a family: widow, young son, older son, sickly father and a few other boarders. He gets drawn into their lives and in the end has to decide: the party or the young boy who needs him?
It's a painful story in many ways, sympathetic to the lot of the 'good' Germans who were mowed down along with the other 'undesirables' the Nazis hated and hoped to stamp out. It's a different POV for sure.
But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in this time and place, it's hard to find such a deeply arresting and personal story of one man - and his convictions - put to such a difficult test.
Five stars.
May 31, 2020
This absorbing novel is structured as a series of entries in a 1938 diary secretly maintained by Josef Hofmann, a Comintern agent sent to Germany on an espionage mission: to organize a cell that could be employed to perform sabotage operations against the Nazis. Hofmann has returned to Germany, where he had been active in the Communist Party in the early 1920s, after about 15 years abroad. The setting is Hamm, a small city in the Ruhr region of western Germany that is strategically important because of its massive rail yard, where Hofmann quickly gains employment.
We're told at the outset that the diary was discovered in 1989 by a man we quickly come to recognize as the precocious 12-year-old boy whose family, the Gersdorffs, ran the rooming house where Hofmann resided. A brief narrative that follows the diary explains how it was found, and what became of the major characters.
The front-cover blurb ("Downing's thriller commands our attention ...") notwithstanding, this is not in any sense a spy novel or a thriller. It is a very human story about ordinary people whose lives are profoundly affected by the growing brutality of the Nazi regime. We learn about Hofmann's espionage efforts in bits and pieces dispersed throughout the diary, but the bulk of it is devoted to Hofmann's deepening friendships with members of the Gersdorff family, and his descriptions of how they struggle to lead normal lives amidst the growing societal sickness of Nazism.
Downing has obviously researched his subject and setting deeply, and he is brilliant at evoking the sights, sounds, smells, and mood of prewar Germany. He's also created some very memorable characters here, and I found the book to be quite moving. I highly recommend it.
We're told at the outset that the diary was discovered in 1989 by a man we quickly come to recognize as the precocious 12-year-old boy whose family, the Gersdorffs, ran the rooming house where Hofmann resided. A brief narrative that follows the diary explains how it was found, and what became of the major characters.
The front-cover blurb ("Downing's thriller commands our attention ...") notwithstanding, this is not in any sense a spy novel or a thriller. It is a very human story about ordinary people whose lives are profoundly affected by the growing brutality of the Nazi regime. We learn about Hofmann's espionage efforts in bits and pieces dispersed throughout the diary, but the bulk of it is devoted to Hofmann's deepening friendships with members of the Gersdorff family, and his descriptions of how they struggle to lead normal lives amidst the growing societal sickness of Nazism.
Downing has obviously researched his subject and setting deeply, and he is brilliant at evoking the sights, sounds, smells, and mood of prewar Germany. He's also created some very memorable characters here, and I found the book to be quite moving. I highly recommend it.
July 29, 2019
This novel asks the question that, for any citizen of any country, for any citizen of the world-What do I do? Do I blindly follow a leader who promises the world, whose tools are hatred, bigotry, nationalism, fear, and murder? Do I resist, courting accusations of treason, unemployment, imprisonment and even death? Or do I sit back and say "It's not my fault" and hope that whatever bad happens doesn't happen to me? Disturbing are the parallels with the United States today. "Most of the time it's hard to take Nazi Germany seriously-the ideology is so ludicrous and so utterly transparent to anyone who knows anything about the way societies work. And no one who has lived outside his own country for more than a few weeks could swallow the nonsense they talk about national and racial hierarchies." "In many ways he's the future I fought for and am still supposedly fighting for: a world of innocence and unending curiosity, of kindness and compassion, of people who think of others as much as they do themselves. In this world of course he's a glorious misfit." And commenting on the weird hysterical reaction the the "The War of the Worlds" radio broadcast on Halloween, 1938, the protagonist muses, " Given that the broadcast supposedly offered live coverage of a full-scale war-from the initial landings all the way to the Martians' ultimate victory- in under forty-five minutes, one has to wonder just how gullible many Americans are. But then I remember the millions of Germans who voted for Hitler, most of whom are still insisting they were right." My, how the worm turns!
November 2, 2022
The diary format is so contrived, and so little happens. I couldn't enjoy this.
April 14, 2022
I'm not sure how I came to this novel and reading historical fiction about the onset of WW II and the Holocaust isn't my normal fare, but I found this fascinating. Written in diary form, it's from the unique perspective of a Comintern agent who calls himself Josef Hofmann, a Russian spy under Moscow's command, sent to the small town of Hamm, Germany on a mission to locate former members of Germany's suppressed communist party who might be willing to work to slow the German war machine from within. Renting a room in a boarding house from a widow named Anna, who has one teenaged son in jail for being part of an anti-Hitler gang, and a second son, the truth-seeking 12 year old Walter, Josef finds his allegiances shifting when he becomes caught up in the family's life.
April 15, 2019
1938 Nazi Germany through the eyes of a Communist?
German born Josef (not his real name) arrives in small town Germany on behalf of the Communist Party’s Comintern (a real thing which I have only just learned). He has been sent to seek out and recruit other Communists to fight the Nazi regime.
As much as I’m aware this is fiction (or is it?) the writing is such that I had the feeling I was reading non-fiction.
Josef finds rooms in a boarding house run by a German woman with two sons and an elderly father. There is also a cook, the cook’s son and three other boarders.
Each character is very different and specific – each with a fascinating and interesting story of their own. I was drawn to each and every one, most especially 11-year old Walter.
This is a compelling story written in a compelling manner with compelling characters. This is one of those ’can’t put down’ books.
German born Josef (not his real name) arrives in small town Germany on behalf of the Communist Party’s Comintern (a real thing which I have only just learned). He has been sent to seek out and recruit other Communists to fight the Nazi regime.
As much as I’m aware this is fiction (or is it?) the writing is such that I had the feeling I was reading non-fiction.
Josef finds rooms in a boarding house run by a German woman with two sons and an elderly father. There is also a cook, the cook’s son and three other boarders.
Each character is very different and specific – each with a fascinating and interesting story of their own. I was drawn to each and every one, most especially 11-year old Walter.
This is a compelling story written in a compelling manner with compelling characters. This is one of those ’can’t put down’ books.
December 30, 2019
A very good historical fiction about pre-war Germany. Joseph, a German communist, has been sent by Moscow to reconstitute the communists cell that existed in Hamm prior to the Nazi ascension to power. He rents a room at a boarding house and gets involved with the day to day life of said boarding house while doing his job at the railway yard. The book is interesting as Joseph narrates the events that took place in Germany between April and November 1938 and its effect upon Jose living in the boarding house. The historical facts are illuminating and the story flows real well. Parts of the book at times sounded much like listening to a news reel and lacked vibrancy.
March 16, 2022
While I'm still not 100% sure what it was the main character was supposed to be doing or setting up in pre-WW2 Germany, I do know it was against Hitler, and he served as a vehicle to highlight much of the ludicrousness of Nazism and this is still a gripping story.
April 23, 2022
Being a child of a WW II veteran, I found this novel very interesting. Though fictional, the factual parts of what was happening in the world leading up to the outbreak of the war gave it an interesting perspective that I have not come across.
February 13, 2025
Fabulous book!
As a history buff, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of pre-war Germany from an altogether different perspective.
It was an actual insight into the what was happening in Germany, described in real time and not at all glamourised, as can happen with such books.
I also particularly enjoyed the prologue as to what happened after their escape and the ensuing years.
As a history buff, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of pre-war Germany from an altogether different perspective.
It was an actual insight into the what was happening in Germany, described in real time and not at all glamourised, as can happen with such books.
I also particularly enjoyed the prologue as to what happened after their escape and the ensuing years.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2019
British author David Downing is the author of two series - one set in WW2 and the other set pre-WW1. I loved the first series - the "Berlin Train Station" (though the Prague station was stuck in there) - but didn't care for the second - the "Jack McColl" series. Now Downing returns with a standalone novel, "Diary of a Dead Man on Leave", set in pre-WW2 Germany. I don't think this is the start of another series.
"Diary" is the diary of a Communist agent - Josef Hofmann - who has resettled in 1938 Germany. He'd been in South America, China, and other places for many years. He'd fought in the Great War but became a member of the Communist International in the post-war world. (Downing quotes Eugen Levine about Communist agents being "all dead men on leave.") He settles in Hamm, a small city in northern Germany, and hires on with the national railroad office. He's charged with talking to the workers - who many have anti-Nazi sympathies - on the feasibility of working against the Nazi regime. He boards at a house run by Anna Gersdorff - a widow with two sons. And so he goes about his business in infiltrating the railroad workers. He keeps a diary, which is the basis of the book.
The problem I have with Downing's novel is the idea that an agent of a foreign government - particularly the Soviet government - would keep a diary of his activities. Sure, he has the diary in a secure hiding place while putting a dummy-copy in a "findable place" in case he's captured. I read Downing's novel with one part of my mind stretched a bit in incredulity. If you can get past that part, you'll enjoy the book. I'd have to say I did enjoy "Diary of a Dead Man on Leave", but wish it wasn't a bit unrealistic.
In any case, I can recommend David Downing's new stand-alone.
"Diary" is the diary of a Communist agent - Josef Hofmann - who has resettled in 1938 Germany. He'd been in South America, China, and other places for many years. He'd fought in the Great War but became a member of the Communist International in the post-war world. (Downing quotes Eugen Levine about Communist agents being "all dead men on leave.") He settles in Hamm, a small city in northern Germany, and hires on with the national railroad office. He's charged with talking to the workers - who many have anti-Nazi sympathies - on the feasibility of working against the Nazi regime. He boards at a house run by Anna Gersdorff - a widow with two sons. And so he goes about his business in infiltrating the railroad workers. He keeps a diary, which is the basis of the book.
The problem I have with Downing's novel is the idea that an agent of a foreign government - particularly the Soviet government - would keep a diary of his activities. Sure, he has the diary in a secure hiding place while putting a dummy-copy in a "findable place" in case he's captured. I read Downing's novel with one part of my mind stretched a bit in incredulity. If you can get past that part, you'll enjoy the book. I'd have to say I did enjoy "Diary of a Dead Man on Leave", but wish it wasn't a bit unrealistic.
In any case, I can recommend David Downing's new stand-alone.
September 25, 2019
Subtract .5 star.
This is the first time I've read anything (fiction or non-) about how communism got a stronghold in East Germany after the second World War. Much of what I've seen, read, and listened to about WWII dealt mainly with allied victories, the Holocaust, and (a smattering of) the Japanese-American internment after Pearl Harbor. Downing presents a fairly concise view of communist faction(s) working in Germany at the beginning of Hitler's quest to conquer Europe.
The format of the text is indeed a diary, so therefore the reader gets to experience the ups and downs our protagonist has as he weighs the implications of letting his personal feelings for a young boy and his family take a higher priority to the mission tasked him by his handlers in Moscow. Though the story is set in 1938, I couldn't help but make parallels to today's political climate here and abroad. It's not too hard to see that the history is in danger of repeating itself because of the abject ignorance of the "powers that be."
It would have been helpful if Downing had included a timeline, map, or even a glossary of historical figures and colloquialisms with this text. Much of the political wranglings and labor issues discussed by our protagonist had me relying on Google to get a crash course in how one country was divided between two ideologies as a consequence of losing a war.
This is the first time I've read anything (fiction or non-) about how communism got a stronghold in East Germany after the second World War. Much of what I've seen, read, and listened to about WWII dealt mainly with allied victories, the Holocaust, and (a smattering of) the Japanese-American internment after Pearl Harbor. Downing presents a fairly concise view of communist faction(s) working in Germany at the beginning of Hitler's quest to conquer Europe.
The format of the text is indeed a diary, so therefore the reader gets to experience the ups and downs our protagonist has as he weighs the implications of letting his personal feelings for a young boy and his family take a higher priority to the mission tasked him by his handlers in Moscow. Though the story is set in 1938, I couldn't help but make parallels to today's political climate here and abroad. It's not too hard to see that the history is in danger of repeating itself because of the abject ignorance of the "powers that be."
It would have been helpful if Downing had included a timeline, map, or even a glossary of historical figures and colloquialisms with this text. Much of the political wranglings and labor issues discussed by our protagonist had me relying on Google to get a crash course in how one country was divided between two ideologies as a consequence of losing a war.
July 4, 2019
Excellent look at how politics and nationalism shape our reactions, wearing away some values and reinforcing others, during chaotic times. The characters living in Hamm, Germany, just before the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, must hide their true thoughts and self in order to get along and later to survive. There is a yearning for intelligent discussions and collective support in resisting the upheaval, with great risks entailed in trusting others. There is a yearning for simple normality. Every lie, every nod of the head over the Fuhrer's ridiculous ideas, etches away at one's character and soul.
September 23, 2019
This book is so good. It was a very character-driven story that packs in a lot of historical detail about Nazi Germany in the days leading up to WWII. The author paints a very vivid and terrifying picture. It's devastating, but parts are also uplifting, and despite his flaws, I liked the protagonist more and more as I read.
December 15, 2023
Interesting tale of Germany prior to WWII from the perspective of a embedded Soviet spy. I didn’t like the ‘diary’ format of the book…as the inputs were not what one would expect. Not really a thriller, but a good view of how things go from bad to worse in a society if left unchecked.
May 9, 2019
Much home life, very little spying. Maybe that’s the point but woefully dull.
March 11, 2024
I was surprised how much I enjoyed David Downing's "Diary of A Dead Man on Leave." Downing's ability to communicate important details and observations draw the reader into what feels like a very genuine likeness of pre-WWII Germany. While the diary form is hardly new, it works very well in this instance. We get some "life action," as it happens retellings but much more by way of the details of the past day or two but also Josef's (our protagonist) thoughts about it. But if your looking for sexy spies, car chases, gun battles, or the like, you won't find it here. Downing builds the suspense quietly, with everyday details and happenings. But if you're hiding who and what you are from everyone around you, everyday details can be pretty ominous.
In 1938 the Nazis were firmly in control and leading the country into war. Our protagonist is a German spying for the communist government in Moscow. His commitment to his cause is reflected in his bland acceptance of the fact that Moscow does not hesitate to execute their own on the least transgressions imaginable, and even then mistakenly. Now, after decades of constant deception and movement he finds himself caring about the family he lets a room from. Not a good idea if you are a spy.
But beyond the engaging story there is something else. An analysis of how a people found themselves lost in their own country. Passages like these:
"This, I think, is how political poison infects a whole culture. It enters the bloodstream through the cuts and bruises of personal disappointment and feeds on hearts wounded by feelings of inadequacy or rejection."
"Most of the time it's hard to take Nazi Germany seriously. The ideology is so ludicrous and so utterly transparent to anyone who knows anything about the way societies work. And no one who has lived outside his own country for more than a few weeks the nonsense they talk about national and racial hierarchies.'
I can't escape the feeling that the author isn't just talking about 1938 Germany. Maybe it's just me.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys spy fiction. Not the flashy, Hollywood, James Bond type of story but a much more realistic and human one. I found both the era the author chose and making his protagonist a communist spy who has done, and does some, pretty awful things intriguing.
In 1938 the Nazis were firmly in control and leading the country into war. Our protagonist is a German spying for the communist government in Moscow. His commitment to his cause is reflected in his bland acceptance of the fact that Moscow does not hesitate to execute their own on the least transgressions imaginable, and even then mistakenly. Now, after decades of constant deception and movement he finds himself caring about the family he lets a room from. Not a good idea if you are a spy.
But beyond the engaging story there is something else. An analysis of how a people found themselves lost in their own country. Passages like these:
"This, I think, is how political poison infects a whole culture. It enters the bloodstream through the cuts and bruises of personal disappointment and feeds on hearts wounded by feelings of inadequacy or rejection."
"Most of the time it's hard to take Nazi Germany seriously. The ideology is so ludicrous and so utterly transparent to anyone who knows anything about the way societies work. And no one who has lived outside his own country for more than a few weeks the nonsense they talk about national and racial hierarchies.'
I can't escape the feeling that the author isn't just talking about 1938 Germany. Maybe it's just me.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys spy fiction. Not the flashy, Hollywood, James Bond type of story but a much more realistic and human one. I found both the era the author chose and making his protagonist a communist spy who has done, and does some, pretty awful things intriguing.
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August 5, 2019This appears to be a stand alone book.
Good to read it on hot sunny days, when the subject matter & story is grim. Interesting book, historical fiction for the horrors of the ww1 to WW2 eras, primarily in Europe, featuring the range from colonialism to communism to fascism. Links well with the previous John Russell series, particularly coming after it. As always, the human dimensions feature in it, for both the worst & the best actions while enduring/anticipating/
creating terror & hardship.
Downing's books are entertaining ways (if that can be said) of teaching & learning about history.
Good to read it on hot sunny days, when the subject matter & story is grim. Interesting book, historical fiction for the horrors of the ww1 to WW2 eras, primarily in Europe, featuring the range from colonialism to communism to fascism. Links well with the previous John Russell series, particularly coming after it. As always, the human dimensions feature in it, for both the worst & the best actions while enduring/anticipating/
creating terror & hardship.
Downing's books are entertaining ways (if that can be said) of teaching & learning about history.
January 17, 2021
I've read all of Downing's Berlin station books and really liked them. This one is so different. There is very little action but it is very thoughtful. It describes the horrible things happening in Hitler's pre-war Germany and tries to describe the mood of the German public--from the point of a native German devoted to international Communist revolution.
I really liked this book for its insight.
I really liked this book for its insight.
June 27, 2019
Largely Satisfying
A largely satisfying novel of pre-World War II Germany from the perspective of an anti-Nazi communist infiltrator. The “diary” approach works well, and there is appropriate fog about who is to be trusted and who is not. The escape at the end seems too quick and simple. The fate of Josef is muddled, but fits.
A largely satisfying novel of pre-World War II Germany from the perspective of an anti-Nazi communist infiltrator. The “diary” approach works well, and there is appropriate fog about who is to be trusted and who is not. The escape at the end seems too quick and simple. The fate of Josef is muddled, but fits.
August 14, 2019
Excellent. The story unfolds in the form of a diary of an undercover operative in pre WW2 Germany.
January 25, 2023
Loved this book-the characters, the format is unusual but interesting, the subject matter. I really like endings that jump forward in time and tell you what happened to each character.
February 6, 2021
Loved the way the subject matter unfolded, in diary format. Very readable & engaging. A different perspective on the struggle against the Nazis by this "mole" for the Comintern in pre-WWII Germany. He is all too human for his handlers and risks everything to save others while describing the inevitable slide to war as Hitler rants & ramps up the crowds. Wonderful read.
February 13, 2019
Obligatory disclaimer: I won a pre-release copy of this book in a giveaway here on Goodreads.
This novel is presented as sort of an espionage story, and published by a crime fiction imprint, but it isn't really either. The protagonist is, of course, a spy, and there are many crimes (according to the laws of Nazi Germany) committed, but really it's mostly a drama set in 1938 Germany, whose protagonist happens to be a spy. It's pretty good, once you get used to this.
There is, curiously, sort of a YA feel to this book; there's little swearing, no explicit sexual content, and only two scenes of explicit violence, which are shocking, pass quickly, and hammer home the cruelty and brutality of the Nazi regime, and the brutality it forced upon those determined to resist it. The other novel this reminds me of most, actually, is Number the Stars, which I had to read long ago in school, although this novel is somewhat more mature: whereas Number the Stars is an excellent book for elementary/middle schoolers, I think this'd be an excellent novel for high schoolers.
The characters are generally effectively drawn and developed, but none of them are especially deeply delved into beyond the protagonist. Rather like a James Michener novel, each character serves as sort of a stand-in for an entire class of people in the difficult situation of having to survive under Hitler. There's the widowed mother who has to conceal her hatred of Nazism; her sons, the almost-adult boy who is part of an anti-Nazi youth gang, and a younger boy who is not overt in his resistance, but who is too perceptive and clever to be entirely taken in by the Nazi Party's propaganda; there's her father, the blinded old Great War veteran, who can speak his mind by virtue of having little to lose; there's the blithe middle-aged man who enthusiastically buys into the Party to compensate for his own very clear personal failings; the young man who buys into the Party because of the aimlessness he otherwise feels; the mother with a mixed-race child resulting from a brief romance with a black soldier serving in the French occupation after the war; and so on. The protagonist himself is very much the archetype of the jaded spy, and his character arc is one of slowly warming up as a person, and trying to reclaim his own humanity in a way; the novel is almost entirely in the form of his secret diary that he starts upon beginning his mission in Germany. Of course, this novel is set in Germany in 1938, so it does not take a genius to realize that few of these characters will find happy endings.
As a book to be read, the writing is uniformly smooth and polished, if rarely sparkling or brilliant. It's a page-turner, and by the end I was almost rushing to the end to see what would happen to the characters (I already knew, of course, what happened to Germany). There aren't many cutting insights into life in Hitler's Germany, or life as a spy, or what it meant to be Stalin's puppet, but of course most cutting insights to be had have already been made in other books. Where this book excels is in creating an air of verisimilitude: how people live, what they think, what they eat, etc, all feel very real to the time and place depicted. Importantly as well, there's great effort put into making sure real events are documented as they happened in real life: since the novel is in the form of a diary with day-by-day entries, events like the second Louis-Schmeling fight, the Munich Agreement, and Kristallnacht are documented in real time, from the perspective of a person living through them.
Overall, a very good book, and although I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the period or subject matter, surprisingly my strongest recommendation of this book has to end up being to high school students, as it seems to me that it'd be an excellent way of introducing young people to the time, the place, the important events happening there, and the experiences of everyday people as they happened.
This novel is presented as sort of an espionage story, and published by a crime fiction imprint, but it isn't really either. The protagonist is, of course, a spy, and there are many crimes (according to the laws of Nazi Germany) committed, but really it's mostly a drama set in 1938 Germany, whose protagonist happens to be a spy. It's pretty good, once you get used to this.
There is, curiously, sort of a YA feel to this book; there's little swearing, no explicit sexual content, and only two scenes of explicit violence, which are shocking, pass quickly, and hammer home the cruelty and brutality of the Nazi regime, and the brutality it forced upon those determined to resist it. The other novel this reminds me of most, actually, is Number the Stars, which I had to read long ago in school, although this novel is somewhat more mature: whereas Number the Stars is an excellent book for elementary/middle schoolers, I think this'd be an excellent novel for high schoolers.
The characters are generally effectively drawn and developed, but none of them are especially deeply delved into beyond the protagonist. Rather like a James Michener novel, each character serves as sort of a stand-in for an entire class of people in the difficult situation of having to survive under Hitler. There's the widowed mother who has to conceal her hatred of Nazism; her sons, the almost-adult boy who is part of an anti-Nazi youth gang, and a younger boy who is not overt in his resistance, but who is too perceptive and clever to be entirely taken in by the Nazi Party's propaganda; there's her father, the blinded old Great War veteran, who can speak his mind by virtue of having little to lose; there's the blithe middle-aged man who enthusiastically buys into the Party to compensate for his own very clear personal failings; the young man who buys into the Party because of the aimlessness he otherwise feels; the mother with a mixed-race child resulting from a brief romance with a black soldier serving in the French occupation after the war; and so on. The protagonist himself is very much the archetype of the jaded spy, and his character arc is one of slowly warming up as a person, and trying to reclaim his own humanity in a way; the novel is almost entirely in the form of his secret diary that he starts upon beginning his mission in Germany. Of course, this novel is set in Germany in 1938, so it does not take a genius to realize that few of these characters will find happy endings.
As a book to be read, the writing is uniformly smooth and polished, if rarely sparkling or brilliant. It's a page-turner, and by the end I was almost rushing to the end to see what would happen to the characters (I already knew, of course, what happened to Germany). There aren't many cutting insights into life in Hitler's Germany, or life as a spy, or what it meant to be Stalin's puppet, but of course most cutting insights to be had have already been made in other books. Where this book excels is in creating an air of verisimilitude: how people live, what they think, what they eat, etc, all feel very real to the time and place depicted. Importantly as well, there's great effort put into making sure real events are documented as they happened in real life: since the novel is in the form of a diary with day-by-day entries, events like the second Louis-Schmeling fight, the Munich Agreement, and Kristallnacht are documented in real time, from the perspective of a person living through them.
Overall, a very good book, and although I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the period or subject matter, surprisingly my strongest recommendation of this book has to end up being to high school students, as it seems to me that it'd be an excellent way of introducing young people to the time, the place, the important events happening there, and the experiences of everyday people as they happened.
May 3, 2020
I found this a rather sad book. The atmosphere of Nazi Germany in 1938 is captured with just a few brush strokes, the menace, the impending war, the annexation of the Sudetenland is taking place in the background. The protagonist is a Comintern agent, who has been sent to Hamm a small town in the Ruhrgebiet, to foment revolution among the workers. You have to wonder what his masters were thinking of. Most of the KPD membership had been locked up in camps or eliminated by the Nazis. Since the assumption of power in 1933 the Nazis have had five years to eliminate any opposition. So a pretty hopeless task one would assume.
The protagonist does his best. He find a place to stay and a job. He puts in his time and cultivates his workmates and identifies the core of a cell. So far so good. What he had not bargained on was becoming involved in the lives of his landlady and her family. This is the core of the book. The protagonist keeps diary, a dangerous pastime for a Comintern agent, and it is this that constitutes the bulk of the novel.
A thoroughly convincing and well written novel, with enough detail to be satisfying without overwhelming the reader. A most satisfying read which provided much food for thought.
The protagonist does his best. He find a place to stay and a job. He puts in his time and cultivates his workmates and identifies the core of a cell. So far so good. What he had not bargained on was becoming involved in the lives of his landlady and her family. This is the core of the book. The protagonist keeps diary, a dangerous pastime for a Comintern agent, and it is this that constitutes the bulk of the novel.
A thoroughly convincing and well written novel, with enough detail to be satisfying without overwhelming the reader. A most satisfying read which provided much food for thought.
June 19, 2019
Diary of a Dead Man on Leave offers an intriguing premise: a Comintern member returned to Germany in 1938 to try to revive the embers of the all-but-defunct KPD. The premise allows author David Downing a great vantage point to explore the social fabric of Germany in in the 18 months prior to the start of World War II, and Downing excels at this slice of life observation, which is why I liked the book. The problems, however, are two-fold: the story line is thin and predictable, which is why I was losing interest in the novel as I got through the second half. In addition, all of the back-story about how Moscow controlled and/or abused its foreign spies, i.e., the Comintern workers, may be accurate, but it was detail that didn't advance the plot and thus became similarly tedious. I wanted to like this book better, because it was a great idea, but it bogged down too deeply and once down, never found its footing again.
December 26, 2020
The intriguing premise of a Comintern spy assigned to ferret out loyal comrades in a small German town in the period leading up to WWII fails to hold momentum or interest. The protagonist - the eponymous diarist, Josef - is an interesting enough character but he fails to actually do anything for the vast majority of the book, serving instead as an observer and cataloguer of the insidious spread of Naziism and the ways in which innocent people are victimized and brutalized by the rising tide of fascism. Josef’s relationship with 12-year-old Walter is the primary focus, but Walter mostly serves as a plot device to pose questions to Josef about the Nazi ideology he’s being taught at school. The book does succeed at creating an overall atmosphere of fear and paranoia in a situation in which any casual accusation of disloyalty can result in imprisonment, or worse. I only wish Josef had been given opportunities to take some sort of action before the final rushed 30 pages.
August 16, 2019
This is a book set out as if it were a real diary, I was concerned that it may read as bitty, but it’s wonderfully written and takes the reader on an amazing journey through the thoughts and actions of one man just before WWll. If you have any interest in this era at all then I encourage you to grab a copy of this book, you shall not be disappointed. The author has obviously done a lot of research into this time period to make this as authentic as possible. This is the first book I have read by this author and I’m thrilled to have located this book and been able to read it. I’ll look out for more from this author in the future.
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