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John Russell & Effi Koenen #4
Potsdam Station
In April 1945, Hitler’s Reich is on the verge of extinction. Assaulted by Allied bombs and Soviet shells, ruled by Nazis with nothing to lose, Berlin has become the most dangerous place on earth.
John Russell’s son Paul is stationed on the Eastern Front with the German Army, awaiting the Soviets’ final onslaught. In Berlin, Russell’s girlfriend Effi has been living in disguise, helping fugitives to escape from Germany. With a Jewish orphan to care for, she’s trying to outlast the Nazis.
Russell hasn’t heard from either of them since fleeing Germany in 1941. He is desperate to find out if they’re alive and to protect them from the advancing Red Army. He flies to Moscow, seeking permission to enter Berlin with the Red Army as a journalist, but when the Soviet’s arrest him as a spy, things look bleak—until they find a use for him that has him parachuting into Berlin behind German lines.
340 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2010
277 people are currently reading
1070 people want to read
About the author
David Downing
123 books495 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 228 reviews
December 4, 2013
In this, his fourth novel set in and around Berlin as Hitler comes to power and then falls, the huge continuing story David Downing began with ZOO STATION comes to an end, or at least a major pausing point.
In the chaotic, still murderous final days of Hitler's Reich, Downing follows the converging narratives of his main characters, the journalist John Russell; his actress-lover, Effi Koenen; and Russell's son from a former marriage, Paul, who's now in the German Army as they all move toward Berlin and a possible reunion in the ruins of Hitler's megalomania.
There are unforgettable snapshots of the insanity of war and the heroic efforts of everyday men and women to stay alive in a world in which you can be killed simply for being on the wrong street. At the book's end, the Thousand Year Reich has been blown to dust, and since that's been the historical and emotional setting of Downing's first three books -- all excellent -- I can't help wondering what's next. He and I now share a publisher, and I'm going to ambush her at Bouchercon and force her to tell me what the next book will be.
If you like Alan Furst or Jonathon Rabb or Philip Kerr or Rebecca Cantrell, I can promise you pleasure out of Downing's books. But start with the first one, Zoo Station, because everything follows from that.
In the chaotic, still murderous final days of Hitler's Reich, Downing follows the converging narratives of his main characters, the journalist John Russell; his actress-lover, Effi Koenen; and Russell's son from a former marriage, Paul, who's now in the German Army as they all move toward Berlin and a possible reunion in the ruins of Hitler's megalomania.
There are unforgettable snapshots of the insanity of war and the heroic efforts of everyday men and women to stay alive in a world in which you can be killed simply for being on the wrong street. At the book's end, the Thousand Year Reich has been blown to dust, and since that's been the historical and emotional setting of Downing's first three books -- all excellent -- I can't help wondering what's next. He and I now share a publisher, and I'm going to ambush her at Bouchercon and force her to tell me what the next book will be.
If you like Alan Furst or Jonathon Rabb or Philip Kerr or Rebecca Cantrell, I can promise you pleasure out of Downing's books. But start with the first one, Zoo Station, because everything follows from that.
October 5, 2016
The 4th instalment sees us jump forward four years to 1945 & paints a very vivid picture of a war torn Berlin entering the final throes of conflict (April). The parting of ways of our trio occurred jus after Germany declared war on the USA in December 1941 & the first few chapters tell of their current situation with Effi still in disguise in central Berlin working for the resistance, Paul has come of age & is in the Wehrmacht whilst John Russell is working for an American newspaper as a journo trying to cover the story of the Russian advance into Berlin & in doing so try to be reunited with his girlfriend & son before the Russians run riot in Berlin. Each story is well scripted giving the reader the fall of Berlin from all angles during April 1945. Plenny of twists along the road to be enjoyed in a grand series.
I have to say its a shame there aren’t more stories told in the in-between years but it’s understandable as the timeline revolves around major events during the German Reich and as such gives a realistic snapshot and insight into the historical events of the era as the stories play out.
The three stories work very well & its a 5 star rating from me.
I have to say its a shame there aren’t more stories told in the in-between years but it’s understandable as the timeline revolves around major events during the German Reich and as such gives a realistic snapshot and insight into the historical events of the era as the stories play out.
The three stories work very well & its a 5 star rating from me.
August 13, 2020
This is the fourth in a very strong series, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in the final days of Berlin and covering the Russian offensive and the ultimate taking of control of Berlin, it tells the story from several perspectives. John Russell, Effi and Russell‘s son Paul, give us the fall of Berlin from their own different experiences, struggles and efforts. It is a tense, action packed book which I can highly recommend !
August 5, 2019
Exceptional and riveting. The last days of the Reich and the slowly collapsing city of Berlin are a tense, gritty crucible. The Russians are closing in, ringing the once mighty city with fire and rape. John Russell, Berliner, American journalist, unwilling spy, has escaped, but his fiance, film star Effi Koenen, stayed behind to go under cover, seeking to protect and care for family. Wanted by the Gestapo, Effi manages a believable ruse, though one wrought with trials.
Rusell's son, Paul, now a soldier, is serving on the eastern front, which by now is just a short drive toward the Oder river, and eventually he too finds himself in the putrefying city.
Against all better judgment, Russell brazenly contacts his old Soviet handlers, hopeful he could offer them so good reason for a lift to Berlin to seek out his family. Of course, it would cost something in return, perhaps even his life. Inserted by parachute as a guide, he leads a four man NKVD team in a raid on an abandoned German nuclear installation, intent on discovering just how far the Germans had gone toward a super weapon. This, of course, makes him a traitor to his native US, as the tensions are already thick between the East and West. The story runs its course, packed with turns, anger, joy, angst, death, and life. This was a great end to the John Russell saga in Berlin. With two more installations in the series, I am eager to plow through the post war years with John, Effi and Paul.
This is more than a thriller, much more than just a spy novel. This series give the reader an insightful and historical experience. We learn just how desperate the Reich was, how absolutely absurd the Nazi machine was, and how sick minds of evil men digest their own people. The Hubris of tyrants is palpable, the city desperate. Downing has a way of painting pictures that don't easily go away. Though he has been criticized for being a bit too precise with forgotten street names, directions, and place names, and I did often find my way just skimming past the descriptions of a journey down this street or that, the many place names - real ones - give the reader a real sense of the historicity. You can look on Google earth and find the larger landmarks, those that were not reduced to rubble or re-contoured or built over. I learned much about Berlin, and the region, and the series has a very educational side effect. Highly recommended.
Rusell's son, Paul, now a soldier, is serving on the eastern front, which by now is just a short drive toward the Oder river, and eventually he too finds himself in the putrefying city.
Against all better judgment, Russell brazenly contacts his old Soviet handlers, hopeful he could offer them so good reason for a lift to Berlin to seek out his family. Of course, it would cost something in return, perhaps even his life. Inserted by parachute as a guide, he leads a four man NKVD team in a raid on an abandoned German nuclear installation, intent on discovering just how far the Germans had gone toward a super weapon. This, of course, makes him a traitor to his native US, as the tensions are already thick between the East and West. The story runs its course, packed with turns, anger, joy, angst, death, and life. This was a great end to the John Russell saga in Berlin. With two more installations in the series, I am eager to plow through the post war years with John, Effi and Paul.
This is more than a thriller, much more than just a spy novel. This series give the reader an insightful and historical experience. We learn just how desperate the Reich was, how absolutely absurd the Nazi machine was, and how sick minds of evil men digest their own people. The Hubris of tyrants is palpable, the city desperate. Downing has a way of painting pictures that don't easily go away. Though he has been criticized for being a bit too precise with forgotten street names, directions, and place names, and I did often find my way just skimming past the descriptions of a journey down this street or that, the many place names - real ones - give the reader a real sense of the historicity. You can look on Google earth and find the larger landmarks, those that were not reduced to rubble or re-contoured or built over. I learned much about Berlin, and the region, and the series has a very educational side effect. Highly recommended.
May 21, 2012
Well, Mr. Downing has left the door open to a sequel to this wonderful series, and I hope he walks through it.
This fourth book in the John Russell saga is set in the last, bloody days of Berlin's fate in WWII, with the Russians closing in from the East, successive waves of bombing from the Russians and western Allies each day and then relentless artillery pounding, until nearly every street was reduced to unpredictable rubble.
In this chaos, John's girlfriend Effi, unbeknownst to him, has survived under an assumed name and is struggling to stay alive, and suddenly is in charge of a 9 year old Jewish girl also living under an assumed name. John's son Paul has been drafted into the Army and is being steadily pushed from one retreat position to another with his artillery unit, until he is completely separated from them, and in a parallel to Effi's story, finds himself in charge of a Hitlerjugend boy who idolizes him.
John makes his way to Russia in hopes that he can enter Berlin with the Red Army, something that his journalistic credentials don't win for him, but which he finds a way of finagling by other means. Will he find Effi and Paul and his former brother in law Thomas when he gets to Berlin, or will they all be gone?
It is an excruciating and tense finish, and you'll have to read it to find out. A sequel would take us into postwar Germany and the Cold War, but I'm ready if you are, Mr. Downing.
August 3, 2010
It may seem churlish to resist such energy devoted to research but David Downing's recreation of 1930s and 40s Berlin ultimately palls. No vintage map seems to have been left unconsulted so that every journey takes place street by street. No doubt, transported back five or six decades, we would recognise every building, every landmark, but that in itself is not sufficient reason to open the book. The early pages of Potsdam Station suggest that the hideous threats to the journalist John Russell and his family and friends will build to a resolution of a sort. So they do, but for much of the book they come to seem like a device to manoeuvre the principal characters through the city and its surrounds. It is not difficult to leave three or four pages unread while moving on to discover what will happen to the plot.
While we are there, was Germany's atomic bomb such common knowledge in 1945 Berlin? And is it credible that a Russian nuclear physicist, having had one chance to read a document in a derelict office, should remark, "This is very interesting ... An ingenious solution." Sounds to me like the cliché mad scientist.
This leads to noticing unnecessary blemishes. From earlier in the series Goering has mutated to Göring but elsewhere umlauts are distributed with profligate disregard for accuracy. And there is the dialogue. "You had a father and a mother who loved you - a father, I'll warrant, who still does..." Hands up any reader who has actually heard another living soul say, "I'll warrant."
This Berlin series is a brave, honest attempt but it may just have been a a strasse or two beyond David Downing.
While we are there, was Germany's atomic bomb such common knowledge in 1945 Berlin? And is it credible that a Russian nuclear physicist, having had one chance to read a document in a derelict office, should remark, "This is very interesting ... An ingenious solution." Sounds to me like the cliché mad scientist.
This leads to noticing unnecessary blemishes. From earlier in the series Goering has mutated to Göring but elsewhere umlauts are distributed with profligate disregard for accuracy. And there is the dialogue. "You had a father and a mother who loved you - a father, I'll warrant, who still does..." Hands up any reader who has actually heard another living soul say, "I'll warrant."
This Berlin series is a brave, honest attempt but it may just have been a a strasse or two beyond David Downing.
May 23, 2011
I enjoyed the first three books in this series, but my first instinct was not to bother with this one. That was probably correct. For hardcore Downing fans, this book has much of what made the first three offerings so attractive: good historical detail, sympathetic characters, some suspense. Unfortunately, this book is somewhat incoherent, and one feels that at this point Downing is just cashing in on his franchise. The story crosscuts among three plotlines, unnecessarily confusing the narrative. In addition, an inordinate amount of space goes to detailed descriptions of the characters' wanderings to and fro in wartime Berlin, including detailed itineraries -- more than one needs to know in service of the story. Fewer directions, please, especially since the information is meaningless to anyone who doesn't know Berlin well.
In the end, of course, Russell saves the day, and his family, albeit with a somewhat contrived and unpersuasive solution. It's nice to see them together again.
In the end, of course, Russell saves the day, and his family, albeit with a somewhat contrived and unpersuasive solution. It's nice to see them together again.
September 15, 2017
Possibly the best one in this series so far. Playing out in the final weeks of WW2, Downing has done a fairly good job of portraying Berlin's - and ultimately Germany's - downfall. I'd say Downing certainly glossed over much of the horror of those last days - the random executions of so-called deserters, the rapes carried out by the Red Army, etc... but he still succeeds in giving us a good impression of what people went through.
Overall, it's a bit of "light" reading even though it's set in dark times.I like the series and look forward to book 5.
Overall, it's a bit of "light" reading even though it's set in dark times.I like the series and look forward to book 5.
April 12, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - plot wise not a lot really happens but the atmosphere of suspicion and fear is pervasive and you live the adventure with John and Effi. It is also very informative on life in Berlin at the time. I would say, however, to new readers that it will be a more rewarding read if you have read the preceding novels in the series (Zoo Station & Silesian Station).
December 8, 2018
The best entry so far in this series ...
This has to be one of the best-described, meticulously-written, spare-no-details description of the end of the WW2, in Berlin, I've ever read. The action is virtually non-stop and the events and incidents absolutely well-written. Mr. Downing must have written this with maps and travel atlases, etc., right at hand, not to mention first-person written accounts. The story here is actually three stories, written from three quickly-changing POVs.
There's John Russell, American correspondent, now in Russia, but anxious to get back into Germany to find his girlfriend, Effie, a German actress and get her out of Berlin before the Russians take it. What he goes through is accurate, descriptive, edge-of-your-seat suspense.
Then there's Effie, still in Berlin, helping the last of the Jews get out of Germany, (or at least to a safe place), as the city tumbles down around her. Flak attacks. Allied bombing runs. Food shortages. Hiding in bomb shelters. And all with the SS stomping around shooting 'deserters' or anyone who gets in their way, be they foreign worker, German citizen, possible Jew, or just about anyone else. Effie is also helping/hiding a young Jewish girl at this time, so she's not having a very good day in this book.
And lastly, there's Paul, John Russell's 18-year old son who's gone from being a loyal, yet questioning member of the Hitler Youth, to a full-fledged soldier manning one of the big guns on the Eastern Front. What he sees, hears, and experiences is astounding, brutal and altogether too true as his friends get blown apart - literally - and this includes even younger German boys who have been sent to the front.
It's a fast read, but a good one, filled with one startling event after another, all based on what really happened in the fall of Berlin in 1945.
Five stars.
This has to be one of the best-described, meticulously-written, spare-no-details description of the end of the WW2, in Berlin, I've ever read. The action is virtually non-stop and the events and incidents absolutely well-written. Mr. Downing must have written this with maps and travel atlases, etc., right at hand, not to mention first-person written accounts. The story here is actually three stories, written from three quickly-changing POVs.
There's John Russell, American correspondent, now in Russia, but anxious to get back into Germany to find his girlfriend, Effie, a German actress and get her out of Berlin before the Russians take it. What he goes through is accurate, descriptive, edge-of-your-seat suspense.
Then there's Effie, still in Berlin, helping the last of the Jews get out of Germany, (or at least to a safe place), as the city tumbles down around her. Flak attacks. Allied bombing runs. Food shortages. Hiding in bomb shelters. And all with the SS stomping around shooting 'deserters' or anyone who gets in their way, be they foreign worker, German citizen, possible Jew, or just about anyone else. Effie is also helping/hiding a young Jewish girl at this time, so she's not having a very good day in this book.
And lastly, there's Paul, John Russell's 18-year old son who's gone from being a loyal, yet questioning member of the Hitler Youth, to a full-fledged soldier manning one of the big guns on the Eastern Front. What he sees, hears, and experiences is astounding, brutal and altogether too true as his friends get blown apart - literally - and this includes even younger German boys who have been sent to the front.
It's a fast read, but a good one, filled with one startling event after another, all based on what really happened in the fall of Berlin in 1945.
Five stars.
April 29, 2018
The fourth in the John Russell/Effi Koenen series and three years have passed since the British American Russell escaped to Sweden leaving famous actress Koenen back in Berlin using a false identity. This book covers the last days before the Red Army conquer Berlin and follows three main strands - Russell goes to Moscow and inveigles himself into Berlin a few days ahead of the Red Army, Koenen hiding under yet another identity and Russell's son, now 18, a soldier in the retreating German army. A compelling book which describes the hell of war in a very graphic way.
March 16, 2021
Highly readble historical thriller series set in WII Berlin. Each book in the series is titled after one of the train stops encircling Berlin. All four-stars so far, two more to go.
July 23, 2014
Excellent tale set in the John russell world; I have no idea if there is more planned - there is lots of scope for taht but this book could be a fitting ending since after all it ends with downfall of the Reich where all the stories took part; here we have a three layered story - John Russell and his oddyssey to get in Berlin of late April 1945, which he manages only by persuading the NKVD he can help them filch nuclear secrets from the German ahead of the Americans and the British; Effi's story as underground helper of fugitive Jews, adoptive mother by circumstances and more and of Paul, John's 18 year old German son who is fighting valiantly if not quite willingly for the Reich in the shrinking zone between the advancing soviet armies and Berlin and whose tale is the most harrowing in many ways as he witnesses the final collapse in blood and ruins of the millenail Reich - Effi and John are mostly in hiding though they have their harrowing encounters too
Great ending as mentioned tying things together but leaving lots of scope for more; edge of the seat book that never lets go
Great ending as mentioned tying things together but leaving lots of scope for more; edge of the seat book that never lets go
August 25, 2015
This was excellent. Set against the backdrop of the final days of Hitler's Germany and the brutal annihilation of Berlin and it's people by the Soviet army on the ground and by the bombing of all the Allies from the air, the author skilfully brings together the three stories of now war correspondent John Russell, who is seeking to return to Berlin to find his family before the Soviets do, John's partner Effi who he was forced to leave behind in Berlin when he had to flee following the US's belated entry into the war in 1941 and who has subsequently been part of a resistance group enabling Jews to remain hidden, and finally his estranged son Paul, a young teenager in 1941 smitten by the Nazis, but now part of the retreating German army on the Eastern front.
March 20, 2021
This is the fouth book in this series I have read. The first three were Zoo Station, Silesian Station and Stettin Station. They were all excellent. Potsdam Sation is different as it describes the destruction of the Nazi capital blow by blow. John Russell, our hero and protagonist and journalist, is desperate to get to Berlin in order to save the woman he loved and hopefully his son and others. He ends up (not a spoiler) in Moscow to talk the Russians into letting him ride into Berlin with the victorious Red Army. However, what occurs is something far different than he could ever imagine. I have no sympathy for Nazis or the Germans who went along, but the descriptions of Berlin being blown to bits day by day earned my sympathy for the what the citizens of that city went through.
March 20, 2016
All David Downing’s books have been excellent. 'Potsdam Station,' book four (of six) in the ‘Station’ series, continues that trend - and then some.
There did seem to be a bit of a leap between ‘Stettin Station’ and ‘Potsdam,' some four years, in the story-timeline. It was a little unsettling at the start and I had to re-convince myself a few times that I hadn’t missed a book. I hadn’t, I eventually realised - and so relaxed. I couldn’t really make up my mind (totally) why he did that. Perhaps he felt that he’d concentrated so much of the previous three, that if he was to continue at that ‘speed’, he’d need too many books to take it to where he wanted the series to end, some years after the war. I do think he had six books planned from the start and therefore needed to build in a ‘break’ between ‘Stettin’ and ‘Potsdam.’ Also, it might be a little unbelievable if Russell got into life-threatening scrapes every couple of months for the whole of the war. And, as a ‘foreign’ journalist, other than going underground, the sensible solution for someone like him, would have been to get out, even if that meant leaving his ‘life’ behind. As he does.
Russell has been ‘forced’ to leave Germany - and leave his girlfriend Effi and son Paul behind to face ’The End.’ However, he soon realises he needs to go back - and quickly. He knows what the Red Army are capable of and have begun to do, in their headlong rush to reach the German capital. Partly because they want to, partly because Stalin wants them to and partly to beat the Americans to the big prize. They’re also intent on exacting their own special form for revenge, Russian-style. And it would, one has to admit, take the cheek-turning ability of the Saint of all Saints not to want to exact revenge on the Germans for what they did - and planned on doing - to the Russian people. So Russell’s past as a Russian spy comes in useful (for once) in getting himself on a Russian plane and parachuted in, hopefully ahead of the now rampant Red Army. His son Paul, is 19, and has been put in the firing-line on the eastern front and has had to grow up very quickly, mainly because life-expectancy on the eastern front, is so very short. Russell’s girlfriend Effie has, as I say, also remained behind in Berlin and so we see the trials and hardships of the German people, as the rule of law is swept away, as they are abandoned by the Nazis, as they are bombed back to the dark ages and await their fate at the hands - and the women at the loins - of the Soviets.
‘Potsdam Station,’ is absolutely perfectly written to show how everything, every emotion, every seemingly ordinary situation, is magnified and changed in wartime. Good and evil, obviously, but the seemingly previously ordinary, suddenly seems suspicious. Why is it ordinary? Why is there no one there? Is there someone? Are they watching, waiting? Why? No one, nothing, is innocent, no remark without another meaning. “It often felt as if all normal life had been consumed by the war.” The book is about the truly desperate situation the people of Berlin found themselves in. If you want to read more about this period, I’ve put some titles at the bottom of this review. You could say ‘well, after what they were doing - still doing until the end - to their Jewish populations, they deseved it.’ But that isn’t the point here. Effi is involved in helping the Jewish people she finds along the way, she is doing something, not to ease her conscience, but just as one person helping another. As we all should do, in or out of wartime. Retribution is, as I know now, to be discussed in the next book in the series, ‘Lehrter Station.'
It is, I felt, Effi’s book. Not that she gets significantly more page-time than Russell, but it felt like she got more of the story this time than she has in the past. Previously, with her being an actress, once she’d gone off for the day acting, there wasnt really much of a way he could develop too many stories around her. She does feature, but I’ve felt, more as an accessory to the main story-driving character of John Russell. Here, with him being out of Germany and her having to survive on her wits and instincts in Berlin, she really comes to the fore and develops tremendously as a character. Downing shows how, as I thought Max Hastings did admirably in his (non-fiction history of the Second World War) ‘All Hell Let Loose,’ ordinary people were affected by the decisions taken by all sides in the conflict. We can then draw our own conclusions. The ‘problem’ of, as mentioned above, being understanding of the Russian’s demands for revenge, doesn’t mean we can condone the attacks on the ordinary German people, who weren’t neccessarily responsible for the actions of the Nazi party. But many were, so was it ok to kill and rape lots of them? Clearly not, so where do you draw the line? You can’t. And, why shouldn’t the German people feel the need for revenge for the actions both of the Russians, and the British, for bombing - for instance - civilians in Dresden? No one is right and no one has the right to be right in war. That’s what I take away from ‘Potsdam Station.’
Poignant and nuanced, I fell in love with the series all over again with ‘Potsdam Station.' Several times. I felt like this must be the best of the series and the others have been leading to it. ‘The End,' of course, was climactic, so it is appropriate enough that this should feel like the story reaching a crescendo. It is a non-judgemental look at how it all fell apart, on a human, ground-level, personal scale. It is on the surface a love story between John Russell and Effi, but also the German people’s love for a Germany that they deserved, the Nazi party smashed and the Russians bombed and raped flat. Was it all worth it?
Also worth investigating:
Antony Beevor : Berlin: The Downfall, 1945
Richard Overy : Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945
Ian Kershaw : The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany 1944-45
More world-class reviews on Speesh Reads
There did seem to be a bit of a leap between ‘Stettin Station’ and ‘Potsdam,' some four years, in the story-timeline. It was a little unsettling at the start and I had to re-convince myself a few times that I hadn’t missed a book. I hadn’t, I eventually realised - and so relaxed. I couldn’t really make up my mind (totally) why he did that. Perhaps he felt that he’d concentrated so much of the previous three, that if he was to continue at that ‘speed’, he’d need too many books to take it to where he wanted the series to end, some years after the war. I do think he had six books planned from the start and therefore needed to build in a ‘break’ between ‘Stettin’ and ‘Potsdam.’ Also, it might be a little unbelievable if Russell got into life-threatening scrapes every couple of months for the whole of the war. And, as a ‘foreign’ journalist, other than going underground, the sensible solution for someone like him, would have been to get out, even if that meant leaving his ‘life’ behind. As he does.
Russell has been ‘forced’ to leave Germany - and leave his girlfriend Effi and son Paul behind to face ’The End.’ However, he soon realises he needs to go back - and quickly. He knows what the Red Army are capable of and have begun to do, in their headlong rush to reach the German capital. Partly because they want to, partly because Stalin wants them to and partly to beat the Americans to the big prize. They’re also intent on exacting their own special form for revenge, Russian-style. And it would, one has to admit, take the cheek-turning ability of the Saint of all Saints not to want to exact revenge on the Germans for what they did - and planned on doing - to the Russian people. So Russell’s past as a Russian spy comes in useful (for once) in getting himself on a Russian plane and parachuted in, hopefully ahead of the now rampant Red Army. His son Paul, is 19, and has been put in the firing-line on the eastern front and has had to grow up very quickly, mainly because life-expectancy on the eastern front, is so very short. Russell’s girlfriend Effie has, as I say, also remained behind in Berlin and so we see the trials and hardships of the German people, as the rule of law is swept away, as they are abandoned by the Nazis, as they are bombed back to the dark ages and await their fate at the hands - and the women at the loins - of the Soviets.
‘Potsdam Station,’ is absolutely perfectly written to show how everything, every emotion, every seemingly ordinary situation, is magnified and changed in wartime. Good and evil, obviously, but the seemingly previously ordinary, suddenly seems suspicious. Why is it ordinary? Why is there no one there? Is there someone? Are they watching, waiting? Why? No one, nothing, is innocent, no remark without another meaning. “It often felt as if all normal life had been consumed by the war.” The book is about the truly desperate situation the people of Berlin found themselves in. If you want to read more about this period, I’ve put some titles at the bottom of this review. You could say ‘well, after what they were doing - still doing until the end - to their Jewish populations, they deseved it.’ But that isn’t the point here. Effi is involved in helping the Jewish people she finds along the way, she is doing something, not to ease her conscience, but just as one person helping another. As we all should do, in or out of wartime. Retribution is, as I know now, to be discussed in the next book in the series, ‘Lehrter Station.'
It is, I felt, Effi’s book. Not that she gets significantly more page-time than Russell, but it felt like she got more of the story this time than she has in the past. Previously, with her being an actress, once she’d gone off for the day acting, there wasnt really much of a way he could develop too many stories around her. She does feature, but I’ve felt, more as an accessory to the main story-driving character of John Russell. Here, with him being out of Germany and her having to survive on her wits and instincts in Berlin, she really comes to the fore and develops tremendously as a character. Downing shows how, as I thought Max Hastings did admirably in his (non-fiction history of the Second World War) ‘All Hell Let Loose,’ ordinary people were affected by the decisions taken by all sides in the conflict. We can then draw our own conclusions. The ‘problem’ of, as mentioned above, being understanding of the Russian’s demands for revenge, doesn’t mean we can condone the attacks on the ordinary German people, who weren’t neccessarily responsible for the actions of the Nazi party. But many were, so was it ok to kill and rape lots of them? Clearly not, so where do you draw the line? You can’t. And, why shouldn’t the German people feel the need for revenge for the actions both of the Russians, and the British, for bombing - for instance - civilians in Dresden? No one is right and no one has the right to be right in war. That’s what I take away from ‘Potsdam Station.’
Poignant and nuanced, I fell in love with the series all over again with ‘Potsdam Station.' Several times. I felt like this must be the best of the series and the others have been leading to it. ‘The End,' of course, was climactic, so it is appropriate enough that this should feel like the story reaching a crescendo. It is a non-judgemental look at how it all fell apart, on a human, ground-level, personal scale. It is on the surface a love story between John Russell and Effi, but also the German people’s love for a Germany that they deserved, the Nazi party smashed and the Russians bombed and raped flat. Was it all worth it?
Also worth investigating:
Antony Beevor : Berlin: The Downfall, 1945
Richard Overy : Russia's War: A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945
Ian Kershaw : The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany 1944-45
More world-class reviews on Speesh Reads
June 8, 2019
Had she grown accustomed to living with fear, or more adept at expressing her feelings? Was there a difference? p34
The intensity keeps building in this 4th instalment in this remarkably detailed series depicting the lead up to and with this book the last days of WWII. John Russell's German son Paul has graduated into the army and the POV shifts between following Russell, who had escaped Germany and now must find a way back; his intrepid partner, the actress Effi Koenin, undercover in Berlin; and Paul, whose ethics as well as his life are sorely tested.
What people had built, people destroyed, and would no doubt build again. She felt weighted down with the utter pointlessness of it all. p0235
If the ending of this one was a bit over the top, I didn't mind.
I have the next book beside my bed.
Progress. You went with the fear rather than under it. p226
The intensity keeps building in this 4th instalment in this remarkably detailed series depicting the lead up to and with this book the last days of WWII. John Russell's German son Paul has graduated into the army and the POV shifts between following Russell, who had escaped Germany and now must find a way back; his intrepid partner, the actress Effi Koenin, undercover in Berlin; and Paul, whose ethics as well as his life are sorely tested.
What people had built, people destroyed, and would no doubt build again. She felt weighted down with the utter pointlessness of it all. p0235
If the ending of this one was a bit over the top, I didn't mind.
I have the next book beside my bed.
Progress. You went with the fear rather than under it. p226
April 10, 2021
This is a very revealing, frightening, and believable end novel for Germany's fascist journey into terror. This series (through its first 4 novels) provides a poignant warning to fascist leaning peoples everywhere of the terror hate brings to both its victims and its perpetrators.
April 29, 2011
This World War II novel centers around three related lives that have been separated by the tumult in and around war time Berlin. John Russell is an Englishman who resided in Germany for many years prior to the outbreak of the war with Russia. Russell, a journalist who earlier in his life became a Communist, escaped from Germany in 1941, leaving behind his girlfriend Effi (described as a well-known movie star before the war) and his son, Paul. Effi chose not to leave, instead involving herself in resistance efforts to rescue Jews from deportation. Paul, once a member of the Hitler Youth, is now a teen age soldier serving with the retreating German forces during the Russian advance on Berlin.
The story parallels the events of the three characters in the last days of the war. Russell is trying to return to Berlin via the Red Army's advance to reunite with Effi and protect her from the likely depradations of the Soviet troops. Paul, who was estranged from Russell after his sudden flight from the country, is closely involved in the desparate last battles against the Russian advance. Effi is threatened with exposure and goes underground to escape detection by the Gestapo.
The book is a convincing thriller. The characters nearly miraculously escape the destruction and death that others fell victim to on a massive scale. The author has close knowledge of war time Berlin and his descriptions of the characters' movements around the city create in the narrative a vivid sense of place. The novel succeeds in several dimensions: the storyline's progression is exciting, the scenes and places are realistic, and one feels fully fixed in the times, as opposed to a retrospective perspective of times gone by.
This is one of a series of novels about John Russell, not apparently the first. While the story is self-contained there was some lack of clarity about events and motives that must have been laid out in previous novels. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable read.
The story parallels the events of the three characters in the last days of the war. Russell is trying to return to Berlin via the Red Army's advance to reunite with Effi and protect her from the likely depradations of the Soviet troops. Paul, who was estranged from Russell after his sudden flight from the country, is closely involved in the desparate last battles against the Russian advance. Effi is threatened with exposure and goes underground to escape detection by the Gestapo.
The book is a convincing thriller. The characters nearly miraculously escape the destruction and death that others fell victim to on a massive scale. The author has close knowledge of war time Berlin and his descriptions of the characters' movements around the city create in the narrative a vivid sense of place. The novel succeeds in several dimensions: the storyline's progression is exciting, the scenes and places are realistic, and one feels fully fixed in the times, as opposed to a retrospective perspective of times gone by.
This is one of a series of novels about John Russell, not apparently the first. While the story is self-contained there was some lack of clarity about events and motives that must have been laid out in previous novels. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable read.
June 28, 2015
# 4 in the John Russell series. At the end of volume 3 in this excellent series, Russell had escaped to Sweden and Effi had returned to Berlin, hiding in plain sight disguised as an old woman by using her make-up and acting skills. Germany had just declared war on America and the Gestapo sought both of them. Fast forward to April, 1945. Paul, John’s son, is sixty miles from Berlin on the eastern front as part of a Panzerfaust unit as the eastern front shrinks, Effi is surviving but also working to help refugees escape, and Russell is in Moscow hoping to enter Berlin with the Russian troops to find Effi.
Downing follows the travails of John (struggling to get back to Berlin to find Effie), Effie (hiding from the Gestapo as she helps refugees escape the city), and Paul (trying to stay alive as his unit is pushed back to Berlin) as each tries to survive the war in the inferno that 1945 Berlin had become. And Downing vividly describes that hell.
I won’t risk spoiling anything about the plot. Let it be enough to say this series is excellent, but please read them in order.
NB: Re the Kindle edition. The book switches perspectives regularly, e.g., from Russell to Effi to Paul and back, and there is often no transition in the Kindle edition, it’s just the next paragraph, no space, no chapter, no nothing. That needs to be fixed. On the other hand, I see there are new editions out and mine is an older one, so perhaps that has been fixed.
Downing follows the travails of John (struggling to get back to Berlin to find Effie), Effie (hiding from the Gestapo as she helps refugees escape the city), and Paul (trying to stay alive as his unit is pushed back to Berlin) as each tries to survive the war in the inferno that 1945 Berlin had become. And Downing vividly describes that hell.
I won’t risk spoiling anything about the plot. Let it be enough to say this series is excellent, but please read them in order.
NB: Re the Kindle edition. The book switches perspectives regularly, e.g., from Russell to Effi to Paul and back, and there is often no transition in the Kindle edition, it’s just the next paragraph, no space, no chapter, no nothing. That needs to be fixed. On the other hand, I see there are new editions out and mine is an older one, so perhaps that has been fixed.
August 10, 2016
This lastest installment of Downing's John Russell series has the journalist traveling to Soviet Russia in an attempt to ride into Berlin with the conquering Red Army. He hopes to use his previous "favours" to the Russians as means to early entry into Berlin so that he can find his girlfriend Effi, a former German film star, who stayed behind so that John could escape in 1941.
John's attempts to gain creditials through regular channels meet with no success, but he is taken by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, who eventually press him into service as a guide through Berlin. John and his party are parachuted into Berlin ahead of the Red Army to gather secrets of the atomic variety from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. As their mission falls apart, John finds himself in a position to search for Effi and his son Paul, who is serving in the German army.
Told in three narratives - John's, Effi's and Paul's - we are given a view of the final days of the survivors of Hitler's Berlin. As the novel progresses, we are given a street by street (literally - I wish I had a map) recounting of the tenor of the end of the war. Soviets and Germans are both given a moral critique - there are good German, bad Germans and the same with the Soviets. This is a highly enjoyable series and I look forward to the next volume.
John's attempts to gain creditials through regular channels meet with no success, but he is taken by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, who eventually press him into service as a guide through Berlin. John and his party are parachuted into Berlin ahead of the Red Army to gather secrets of the atomic variety from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. As their mission falls apart, John finds himself in a position to search for Effi and his son Paul, who is serving in the German army.
Told in three narratives - John's, Effi's and Paul's - we are given a view of the final days of the survivors of Hitler's Berlin. As the novel progresses, we are given a street by street (literally - I wish I had a map) recounting of the tenor of the end of the war. Soviets and Germans are both given a moral critique - there are good German, bad Germans and the same with the Soviets. This is a highly enjoyable series and I look forward to the next volume.
April 6, 2013
A spy story, that is a love story, that is a story of parenthood and has an happy ending, which is the best thing of the plot in the end IMHO. The charachters are well known as this is the 4th installation in the series, but as a read alone novel they miss part of their background, plus they always miss each other for 5 minutes, and end the end this was pretty boring. Best part was Berlin in 1945, short before the soviet army arrives to "free" the city. Even there, I think the author exagerrated hi knowledge of the city, because from time to time I thought it was some orientering course.
Una storia di spie, che é una storia d'amore, che é una storia di padre e figlio con un finale felice, che é la parte migliore della trama, secondo me. I personaggi sono giá ben conosciuti per chi ha letto i primi tre libri di questa serie, ma per chi ha letto solo questo libro, mancano di spessore e di background e inoltre per la maggior parte del libro riescono a non incontrarsi milioni di volte per una manciata di secondi, e alla fine anche questo stanca. La parte migliore resta questa Berlino devastata, poco prima di venire "liberata" dall'esercito sovietico, ma anche qui l'autore esagera nel manifestare la sua conoscenza della cittá, tanto che a volte mi sembrava di partecipare ad un corso di orientering.
Una storia di spie, che é una storia d'amore, che é una storia di padre e figlio con un finale felice, che é la parte migliore della trama, secondo me. I personaggi sono giá ben conosciuti per chi ha letto i primi tre libri di questa serie, ma per chi ha letto solo questo libro, mancano di spessore e di background e inoltre per la maggior parte del libro riescono a non incontrarsi milioni di volte per una manciata di secondi, e alla fine anche questo stanca. La parte migliore resta questa Berlino devastata, poco prima di venire "liberata" dall'esercito sovietico, ma anche qui l'autore esagera nel manifestare la sua conoscenza della cittá, tanto che a volte mi sembrava di partecipare ad un corso di orientering.
November 23, 2014
The fourth book in the John Russell/Effi Koenen series, Potsdam Station is told through three points of view: Russell, Effi and Paul, Russell’s son from his first marriage. Each new scene switches to focus on one of three. The result is three different views on the fall of Berlin from the perspective of foreign journalist, surviving citizen, and retreating soldier. This is one of the strengths of the tale, along with engaging prose, nice characterisation, a very vivid sense of place and geography, interesting historic detail, a cloying atmosphere, and a visceral sense of desperation as a regime collapses under a fierce onslaught. Nonetheless, the plot is a little far-fetched, particularly the scenario of Russell persuading the Russians to get him into the city ahead of their arrival and Effi failing to maintain her cover to the final fall. That said, despite having a pretty good sense of how the tale would end, Downing keeps the tension high throughout. Further, the first two books in the series were set in 1939 and the third in 1941 and in some ways it’s a shame that Downing has decided to jump forward three and a half years to 1945 for the fourth as I’m sure a compelling tale could have been inserted in that timeframe. Overall, an interesting and entertaining read, with a main plot that’s a little fanciful but a narrative that’s compelling.
April 6, 2011
In POTSDAM STATION, John Russell, a British journalist, navigates the crumbling streets of Berlin in the last moments of WWII in an effort to be reunited with his girlfriend, Effi, and his son, Paul. John has been caught up in a web of espionage, trading favors with Soviet, British, American, and German intelligence in order to survive day by day in Berlin, and if he wants to get himself and his family through these dangerous days alive he has to call in some favors.
Meanwhile, Effi is caught up in a drama of her own--an orphaned Jewish girl she is determined to protect--and Paul is on the German front, one of the last members of a dwindling platoon of young men in an increasingly desperate situation.
We recommend David Downing to fans of Alan Furst and Graham Greene. POTSDAM STATION is a great addition to the WWII fiction library. Downing's depiction of the very last days of WWII in Germany is somehow both lovely and menacing.
Meanwhile, Effi is caught up in a drama of her own--an orphaned Jewish girl she is determined to protect--and Paul is on the German front, one of the last members of a dwindling platoon of young men in an increasingly desperate situation.
We recommend David Downing to fans of Alan Furst and Graham Greene. POTSDAM STATION is a great addition to the WWII fiction library. Downing's depiction of the very last days of WWII in Germany is somehow both lovely and menacing.
June 20, 2011
I really enjoy historical fiction, especially WWII novels, and I thought this one was pretty good.
It's the 4th book in a series, and I haven't read the other three so I can't compare them. (I normally don't read series novels, but here is a good place for the FTC disclosure to say that I won this book in the Firstreads Giveaway contest.)
There was nothing very surprising about the plot; I pretty much knew how things were going to play out for the main characters. What I loved about the book, though, was the vivid description of life for both ordinary citizens and military members in Berlin in the final days before it fell to the Red Army. All of this was fascinating, and some of it was frightening.
All in all, an interesting book that I'm glad to have read.
It's the 4th book in a series, and I haven't read the other three so I can't compare them. (I normally don't read series novels, but here is a good place for the FTC disclosure to say that I won this book in the Firstreads Giveaway contest.)
There was nothing very surprising about the plot; I pretty much knew how things were going to play out for the main characters. What I loved about the book, though, was the vivid description of life for both ordinary citizens and military members in Berlin in the final days before it fell to the Red Army. All of this was fascinating, and some of it was frightening.
All in all, an interesting book that I'm glad to have read.
April 18, 2011
Excellent close to the series. Unbelievably tense, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire book. This one really had you feeling as if you were wandering the broken and dangerous streets of Berlin, trying so very desperately to survive. The detail must be very real, as many of the descriptions were so very close to things my father told me about the end of the war.
Great book. Only caveat is I'd actually recommend the paper version vs Kindle. They really messed up the formatting on the electronic version, which at times made for an awkward and difficult read.
Great book. Only caveat is I'd actually recommend the paper version vs Kindle. They really messed up the formatting on the electronic version, which at times made for an awkward and difficult read.
August 13, 2014
Of the first four books of John Russell series, this one is the best.
And also the saddest and most horrific. We in a book group read these John Russell all in sequence and there were a few that had to put this one off.
Read the other books first. Only read these books in sequence. You will never be able to keep all the players and interactive elements straight, if you try to dicipher John's placements at this point.
And also the saddest and most horrific. We in a book group read these John Russell all in sequence and there were a few that had to put this one off.
Read the other books first. Only read these books in sequence. You will never be able to keep all the players and interactive elements straight, if you try to dicipher John's placements at this point.
February 20, 2014
I have really enjoyed the John Russell series for it's evocative atmosphere and attention to detail. My main criticism in Potsdam Station would be echoed by other reviewers in how much did people understand the power of the atomic bomb in May 1945 particularly a journalist.
The other rare mistake is this book mentions the street Clayallee which wasn't named as such until 1953 after the US Military governor of the US Zone of Occupation.
The other rare mistake is this book mentions the street Clayallee which wasn't named as such until 1953 after the US Military governor of the US Zone of Occupation.
September 1, 2016
Fourth John Russell book. Previous book ended early in WW 2. This book covers the final assault of Berlin.
Would help if you had an idea of the layout of Berlin.
Would help if you had an idea of the layout of Berlin.
September 23, 2017
Potsdam Station by David Downing is a fictional book taking place during the final month of the European theater in World War II. This is the fourth book in this series, named after Berlin train stations.
When he realizes that the Soviets are about to take Berlin, John Russell calls in many favors to get attached as a war correspondent to the Red Army. The NKVD, however, remember John and are willing to grant his wish, but for a very high price.
As a minor celebrity, Effi Koenen doesn’t find it easy to hide in Berlin, but she manages and even helps others to hide. At this point in the war, Berlin is being bombed day and night and every morning more and more of the city’s landscape gets destroyed. A heroine of film, Effi finds herself a real life heroine.
Paul is fighting to defend Berlin. Being conscripted into the German army, this teenager knows that his choices are few and all of them are grim. He is on the losing side and is either going to die, get captured by the Red Army, or try to make it through the battle in one piece and away from zealots willing to throw their lives, and his, into Russian canons.
Every time I pick up one of the books in the John Russell series I ask myself why am I not reading more of them. This is the same question I asked myself when I picked up Potsdam Station by David Downing.
I still have no good answer.
The story is told from the point of view of three people, John Russell, Effi Koenen and Paul, John’s son. John Russell is a British journalist and amateur spy, Effi Koenen an actress, and Paul who is John’s son, a member of the Hitler Jugend and a soldier fighting the Russians to defend Berlin.
Mr. Downing draws a picture of Berlin on its last legs. In this torn down town, our three protagonists chase one another, or rather rumors of one another throughout the book, always taking one step forward to slide two steps back and continue their search.
I thought that Effi and Paul were the real starts of this book. John Russell keeps the separate stories all connected, but both Effi and Paul show growth and encounter everyday people who make their choices, good or bad, count.
The best way I can describe this novel is utter and complete organized chaos. I think this is what the author intended and he succeeded in a marvelous fashion.
Even though this book is part of a series, one which I have not read in order, I feel it is an excellent standalone book. I warn you though, you’ll want more.
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
When he realizes that the Soviets are about to take Berlin, John Russell calls in many favors to get attached as a war correspondent to the Red Army. The NKVD, however, remember John and are willing to grant his wish, but for a very high price.
As a minor celebrity, Effi Koenen doesn’t find it easy to hide in Berlin, but she manages and even helps others to hide. At this point in the war, Berlin is being bombed day and night and every morning more and more of the city’s landscape gets destroyed. A heroine of film, Effi finds herself a real life heroine.
Paul is fighting to defend Berlin. Being conscripted into the German army, this teenager knows that his choices are few and all of them are grim. He is on the losing side and is either going to die, get captured by the Red Army, or try to make it through the battle in one piece and away from zealots willing to throw their lives, and his, into Russian canons.
Every time I pick up one of the books in the John Russell series I ask myself why am I not reading more of them. This is the same question I asked myself when I picked up Potsdam Station by David Downing.
I still have no good answer.
The story is told from the point of view of three people, John Russell, Effi Koenen and Paul, John’s son. John Russell is a British journalist and amateur spy, Effi Koenen an actress, and Paul who is John’s son, a member of the Hitler Jugend and a soldier fighting the Russians to defend Berlin.
Mr. Downing draws a picture of Berlin on its last legs. In this torn down town, our three protagonists chase one another, or rather rumors of one another throughout the book, always taking one step forward to slide two steps back and continue their search.
I thought that Effi and Paul were the real starts of this book. John Russell keeps the separate stories all connected, but both Effi and Paul show growth and encounter everyday people who make their choices, good or bad, count.
The best way I can describe this novel is utter and complete organized chaos. I think this is what the author intended and he succeeded in a marvelous fashion.
Even though this book is part of a series, one which I have not read in order, I feel it is an excellent standalone book. I warn you though, you’ll want more.
For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews