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Flowers from Berlin #3
Judgment in Berlin: A Spy Story
'Judgment in Berlin' is the third book in Noel Hynd’s Berlin series.
It is 1948. World War Two is over, Hitler is dead. The Nuremberg trials have concluded. The Marshall Plan attempts to rebuild Europe, though Germany remains occupied by American, British, French, and Soviet military forces. William Thomas Cochrane, an American intelligence agent, is in England with his wife, Laura, visiting friends and family. Bill Cochrane has accepted an invitation to be a guest lecturer for one year at the University of Cambridge. But when summer arrives, so does the first major international crisis of the postwar years. Under Joseph Stalin’s orders, the Soviet Union employs the Red Army to block the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Berlin Blockade is retaliation for the Western powers’ attempt to institute a pro-Western currency, the Deutschmark, throughout Germany, including Berlin, the former capital. The Soviets offer to end the blockade if the Western Allies withdraw the newly introduced currency from West Berlin. The Allies refuse. But there is no mistaking Soviet tenacity. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov proclaims, "What happens to Berlin, happens to Germany. What happens to Germany, happens to Europe."“And what happens to Europe, happens to the world,” President Harry Truman angrily retorts in Washington. “If we can’t supply Berlin by train or truck or boat, well, then, we’ll damned well bring everything in by airplane!” There is no mistaking the irony: the United States may have been on the winning side of World War Two, but the postwar years quickly have turned old alliances upside down. Americans now defend the enemy capital they bombed just a few years earlier. Truman’s words are barely dry in the ink of world newspapers when American and British military aircraft begin a joint operation in support of Berlin, the Berlin Airlift, one of the most iconic “peacetime” operations of the twentieth century. Military aircrews from Canada, New Zealand, France, and South Africa soon join the Americans and the British, flying more than two hundred thousand sorties in the next fifteen months. The airlift will provide West Berliners essentials such as fuel, fresh water, and food. But is it also a potential flashpoint for another world war? As the airlift begins, Bill Cochrane’s phone rings in the middle of a balmy, summer night in Cambridge. The lecturing plans and a month of vacationing will have to wait. There are other events surrounding the Blockade and the Airlift that do not make the front pages, and those are the events dealt with in back alleys and dark corridors by men like Bill Cochrane.Cochrane’s country is calling him back to active duty for a special assignment in the newly divided Germany, one which will take him behind newly drawn enemy lines and into a perilous netherworld of ruthless black marketeers, petty criminals, prostitutes, ex-Nazis, and Soviet spies.Cochrane has participated in dangerous covert operations in Germany twice in the past, barely escaping with his life both times. But now things are different. Onetime Soviet peers are now suspected enemies and an assortment of ex-Nazis may or may not be his new best friends. Old acquaintances from his previous visits to Germany reemerge, but why? An old gang of adversaries still lurks in the shadows that surround Cochrane’s new operation, waiting perhaps for a moment of lethal payback.Espionage fans who read and enjoyed 'Flowers from Berlin' and 'Return to Berlin' will savor the return of Thomas Cochrane. Rich in detail, compelling in its re-creation of history, 'Judgment in Berlin ' is historical World War Two spy fiction at its best. ***“The Berlin Airlift was the first clear Soviet defeat in the Cold War. It’s the one thing that the Soviets started and failed to finish.” - Diplomatic historian John Gaddis of Yale University.
It is 1948. World War Two is over, Hitler is dead. The Nuremberg trials have concluded. The Marshall Plan attempts to rebuild Europe, though Germany remains occupied by American, British, French, and Soviet military forces. William Thomas Cochrane, an American intelligence agent, is in England with his wife, Laura, visiting friends and family. Bill Cochrane has accepted an invitation to be a guest lecturer for one year at the University of Cambridge. But when summer arrives, so does the first major international crisis of the postwar years. Under Joseph Stalin’s orders, the Soviet Union employs the Red Army to block the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Berlin Blockade is retaliation for the Western powers’ attempt to institute a pro-Western currency, the Deutschmark, throughout Germany, including Berlin, the former capital. The Soviets offer to end the blockade if the Western Allies withdraw the newly introduced currency from West Berlin. The Allies refuse. But there is no mistaking Soviet tenacity. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov proclaims, "What happens to Berlin, happens to Germany. What happens to Germany, happens to Europe."“And what happens to Europe, happens to the world,” President Harry Truman angrily retorts in Washington. “If we can’t supply Berlin by train or truck or boat, well, then, we’ll damned well bring everything in by airplane!” There is no mistaking the irony: the United States may have been on the winning side of World War Two, but the postwar years quickly have turned old alliances upside down. Americans now defend the enemy capital they bombed just a few years earlier. Truman’s words are barely dry in the ink of world newspapers when American and British military aircraft begin a joint operation in support of Berlin, the Berlin Airlift, one of the most iconic “peacetime” operations of the twentieth century. Military aircrews from Canada, New Zealand, France, and South Africa soon join the Americans and the British, flying more than two hundred thousand sorties in the next fifteen months. The airlift will provide West Berliners essentials such as fuel, fresh water, and food. But is it also a potential flashpoint for another world war? As the airlift begins, Bill Cochrane’s phone rings in the middle of a balmy, summer night in Cambridge. The lecturing plans and a month of vacationing will have to wait. There are other events surrounding the Blockade and the Airlift that do not make the front pages, and those are the events dealt with in back alleys and dark corridors by men like Bill Cochrane.Cochrane’s country is calling him back to active duty for a special assignment in the newly divided Germany, one which will take him behind newly drawn enemy lines and into a perilous netherworld of ruthless black marketeers, petty criminals, prostitutes, ex-Nazis, and Soviet spies.Cochrane has participated in dangerous covert operations in Germany twice in the past, barely escaping with his life both times. But now things are different. Onetime Soviet peers are now suspected enemies and an assortment of ex-Nazis may or may not be his new best friends. Old acquaintances from his previous visits to Germany reemerge, but why? An old gang of adversaries still lurks in the shadows that surround Cochrane’s new operation, waiting perhaps for a moment of lethal payback.Espionage fans who read and enjoyed 'Flowers from Berlin' and 'Return to Berlin' will savor the return of Thomas Cochrane. Rich in detail, compelling in its re-creation of history, 'Judgment in Berlin ' is historical World War Two spy fiction at its best. ***“The Berlin Airlift was the first clear Soviet defeat in the Cold War. It’s the one thing that the Soviets started and failed to finish.” - Diplomatic historian John Gaddis of Yale University.
- GenresFiction
413 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 2021
368 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Noel Hynd
62 books218 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 28, 2024
Spy thrillers aren’t my thing ¿but I enjoyed this series very much.this fast-paced book held my interest throughout and was exceptionally well"
December 16, 2022
A spy story built into the Berlin Airlift as Bill Cochrane is sent to recover a German woman who assisted the extraction of several key people from Nazi Berlin from 1943
August 21, 2021
Judgement on Berlin. Noel Hynd
This is an excellent read of actual events with fictional characters woven into an amazing read. It tells a very accurate account of the Berlin airlift to help the starving and broken survivors of post war Germany in East Berlin. The hardships the German citizens suffered under the brutal living conditions the Russians forced on them. They only form of transportation of much needed supplies was only by airplanes. All other forms of entry were blocked by the Russians. The pilots were viewed as heroes by the East Germans. Many of the accounts in this novel were actual true events. An excellent read!!!Enjoyed immensely!!
This is an excellent read of actual events with fictional characters woven into an amazing read. It tells a very accurate account of the Berlin airlift to help the starving and broken survivors of post war Germany in East Berlin. The hardships the German citizens suffered under the brutal living conditions the Russians forced on them. They only form of transportation of much needed supplies was only by airplanes. All other forms of entry were blocked by the Russians. The pilots were viewed as heroes by the East Germans. Many of the accounts in this novel were actual true events. An excellent read!!!Enjoyed immensely!!
June 2, 2023
I've enjoyed this series so far and the history of the Berlin airlift is fascinating. However I have great troubles with historical fiction books that get historical facts wrong as well as a series that doesnt have proper continuity.
For issue number one the author refers to Goebbels being hanged in Nuremberg in 1946. Goebbels committed suicide in 1945. I understand some creative changes in historical fiction but this is a glaring error.
For issue number two..in previous books Laura's mother died when she was young and her father raised her with no mention of siblings.
In this book he wrote that both parents died in the war and all.of a sudden she has a sister.
I usually stop reading a series when these kinds of errors appear but I will give the next book a try and hope that things are better as the topic of the books is very interesting.
For issue number one the author refers to Goebbels being hanged in Nuremberg in 1946. Goebbels committed suicide in 1945. I understand some creative changes in historical fiction but this is a glaring error.
For issue number two..in previous books Laura's mother died when she was young and her father raised her with no mention of siblings.
In this book he wrote that both parents died in the war and all.of a sudden she has a sister.
I usually stop reading a series when these kinds of errors appear but I will give the next book a try and hope that things are better as the topic of the books is very interesting.
June 26, 2022
Brilliant! I love books about WWII and have read many of them. "Flowers From Berlin" was my introduction to Mr. Hynd's wonderful wartime stories. I then read "Return to Berlin", another 5-star engrossing book. He never disappoints. This book was fascinating from beginning to end. I was surprised I hadn't read it before, but I happened upon it one day and thought that, surely I must have read it. It turned out I had NOT read it and so spent several days entertained by this book. Now I noticed that there is another one coming out in the Fall ("Betrayal in Berlin") and I am looking forward to reading that one! I highly recommend all his books, but especially the WWII-related ones.
July 2, 2024
Finally, a good book about the Berlin Airlift! Although wrapped up as a spy thriller, the real story driving the book is the Airlift itself. As a historian, I have a few quibbles about secondary issues, but this book gets the most aspects of this significant historical event correct. Weaving in occasional scenes with Truman and Forrestal to remind the reader of the broader context worked very well. Readers who enjoy the genre will learn about a critical turning point in history while enjoying the ostensible plot.
Read
March 29, 2025We hear so much about WWII. But reading about the aftermath is just as horrendous. The poverty, depravity and terrible living conditions in Berlin and surrounding areas was enlightening and disturbing. I feel so grateful that most of this happened before my birth and I did not have to hear about it in real time. Those of us lucky enough to live in America should never take for granted the prosperity we have. I know most of the characters are fictional, but I also know that there were real people who experienced the events described. The stories are captivating.
August 23, 2021
Gripping
Very illuminating subject, the era has been popular on video media lately, both here and in Germany. Lots of abuse heaped on Communists, very little on others who participated in illegal activities in the era. What America is capable of is astounding, and the airlift was one of our notable achievements in cocking a snook to Stalin, one of the great criminals of all time. Enjoyed, read. Over.
Very illuminating subject, the era has been popular on video media lately, both here and in Germany. Lots of abuse heaped on Communists, very little on others who participated in illegal activities in the era. What America is capable of is astounding, and the airlift was one of our notable achievements in cocking a snook to Stalin, one of the great criminals of all time. Enjoyed, read. Over.
August 22, 2021
Great book
These books in this series ate suberb. These books ate thought provoking, these books require thoughts not a book to read hap hazard or the reader will be lost.The historical detail is excellent. The amount of research is massive which is evident. If you enjoy Cold War books these are for you. Looking forward to more from this Author.
These books in this series ate suberb. These books ate thought provoking, these books require thoughts not a book to read hap hazard or the reader will be lost.The historical detail is excellent. The amount of research is massive which is evident. If you enjoy Cold War books these are for you. Looking forward to more from this Author.
February 15, 2023
Most excellent
This book pleases on several levels. First, it is an accurate description of the Berlin Airlift and city life during that time period. Second is the depiction of the deteriorating relationship between the US and the Soviet Union, under Truman and Stalin. Finally, it is a fine spy story with well drawn characters, a credible plot, and a well told tale.
This book pleases on several levels. First, it is an accurate description of the Berlin Airlift and city life during that time period. Second is the depiction of the deteriorating relationship between the US and the Soviet Union, under Truman and Stalin. Finally, it is a fine spy story with well drawn characters, a credible plot, and a well told tale.
December 10, 2023
Well done
Very much enjoyed the first three books of the series. Excellent character development along with documentary on the start of the Cold War. It should remind us of the terrible tragedy in Eastern Europe, first devastation by the Nazis then the rape of Eastern Europe by the Russians. Sounds familiar today in the Ukraine.
Very much enjoyed the first three books of the series. Excellent character development along with documentary on the start of the Cold War. It should remind us of the terrible tragedy in Eastern Europe, first devastation by the Nazis then the rape of Eastern Europe by the Russians. Sounds familiar today in the Ukraine.
April 20, 2024
Excellent Reading
This book combines a story about an American spy in Berlin during WW II and quite a bit of history pertaining to the Berlin Airlift. It is very interesting from a historical viewpoint and enlightens the reader about the airlift and all of the inner workings as well as the log of the main character and his adventures.
This book combines a story about an American spy in Berlin during WW II and quite a bit of history pertaining to the Berlin Airlift. It is very interesting from a historical viewpoint and enlightens the reader about the airlift and all of the inner workings as well as the log of the main character and his adventures.
August 28, 2021
Wonderful Read
I have read most of Noel Hynd's books and always enjoyed them. This book was exceptional. Mid way through I thought I was reading a novel. Hope for more in the future.
I have read most of Noel Hynd's books and always enjoyed them. This book was exceptional. Mid way through I thought I was reading a novel. Hope for more in the future.
December 14, 2021
a good historical tale
A well written story about a period of history that has faded from the memory of many in the US. Mr. Hyundai does a fine job with the development of the characters.
A well written story about a period of history that has faded from the memory of many in the US. Mr. Hyundai does a fine job with the development of the characters.
December 24, 2021
history intertwined with fiction
A brilliant work, great story, tons of historical facts.
Days of the Berlin Airlift brought to life.
Additionally human suffering, the tragedies of war, all brought together in a most engaging manner.
A pleasure to read.
A brilliant work, great story, tons of historical facts.
Days of the Berlin Airlift brought to life.
Additionally human suffering, the tragedies of war, all brought together in a most engaging manner.
A pleasure to read.
January 12, 2023
Factual historical event intertwined with a realistic fictional story. We know the historical is true and the fictional is so good and well written you have to keep reminding yourself that it is in fact fiction.
April 1, 2024
Wordy, worldly and wonderful
Enjoyed the history aspect and the continuing saga of a good man and good people battling the ever present evil. At least in fiction, there are good endings.
Enjoyed the history aspect and the continuing saga of a good man and good people battling the ever present evil. At least in fiction, there are good endings.
March 3, 2025
I remember the days of the Berlin airlift as it was reported in my small Midwestern town!
Major Lewis is in over his head in occupied Berlin. Can he rescue anyone or die trying or something else?
Major Lewis is in over his head in occupied Berlin. Can he rescue anyone or die trying or something else?
August 22, 2021
One of the best spy novels I’ve ever read. Based on facts. Highly recommended.
September 2, 2021
Spies
Noel Hunt is a man who writes with all the twist and turns as a master of spy craft I recommend all his books to anyone who loves a good spy thriller
Noel Hunt is a man who writes with all the twist and turns as a master of spy craft I recommend all his books to anyone who loves a good spy thriller
September 6, 2021
Third and final book in the series this one takes place post WWII and involves the start of the Berlin Airlift. Thoroughly enjoyed the series
September 12, 2021
An eye opening book! I learned so much about postwar Berlin. It was disturbing but made me so thankful for the people willing to sacrifice and help.
September 17, 2021
I thought I would give this a four, but it was a bit slow. 3.5
September 18, 2021
He has done it again! What a great book! Having had ancestors in World War II; their challenges are made more poignant by this expertly crafted narrative. Thank you Noel!
September 28, 2022
Good read. Easy to read
I liked the simplicity of the story as well as the detail of the various events. Settle back, relax and watch the pages fly by
I liked the simplicity of the story as well as the detail of the various events. Settle back, relax and watch the pages fly by
January 12, 2023
A fantastic book. Instructive, hair-raising, and compelling.
January 31, 2023
it’s a ‘must read’
An amazing story that captivates, informs, and enlightens, and in doing so reminds us all that peace is a fragile thing.
An amazing story that captivates, informs, and enlightens, and in doing so reminds us all that peace is a fragile thing.
June 11, 2023
not great
Drawn out and full of fluffy writing that encourages rapid page turning. Or it could be a brilliant and entertaining piece from the immediate aftermath of WW2.
Drawn out and full of fluffy writing that encourages rapid page turning. Or it could be a brilliant and entertaining piece from the immediate aftermath of WW2.
August 29, 2021
Outstanding post WW11 War book… highly recommended….
February 21, 2023
These books are some of my favorite. The main Character is very believable and interesting. The stories are quite exciting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews