Divided

by Ralph Freedman

A World War II era novel about love, betrayal, honor and loss, Divided focuses on a small Austrian town in the tension-filled days between the German retreat and the Russian occupation. A small unit of American intelligence agents try to root out the remaining Nazi sympathizers and prepare the town and themselves for the changes peace will bring.


"...Divided is the first novel recommended by The Reserve Officer--with no holds barred as to its excellence in treating one of the most dramatic situations in history. Against the tense background of fear and internal division that dominated post-war Kleinbach, a small Austrian town occupied by the American Army, Ralph Freedman has projected this powerful book.

"Divided ... wins ROA's recommendation as real good reading for every officer of the Armed Forces."
The Reserve Officer, September 1948.

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2012

About the author

Ralph Freedman, who grew up in Nazi Germany, emigrated at 19 to England and ultimately the United States. He served in the US Army during World War II, in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy, afterwards graduating from the University of Washington and earning a doctorate at Yale. He taught 12 years at the University of Iowa, 22 at Princeton and for two post-retirement years at Emory University. He wrote and published two novels (Divided, 1948 and Rue the Day, 2009), criticism (The Lyrical Novel, 1963), biographies of Hesse (1978), Rilke (1996), and many essays. His works have been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese. A Chinese version of the biography of Rilke is in press.