Marquise’s Reviews > The Traitors Circle: The Rebels Against the Nazis and the Spy Who Betrayed Them > Status Update
Marquise
is starting
Starting this w/zero expectations, because:
a. Freedland isn't a historian, he's a tabloid journo & thriller writer,
b. He's a pro-Israel Jew, bias is a given with sensitive/controversial aspects of Israeli & Jewish history.
c. His book on Vrba was so bad I'm surprised no more people called it out, but maybe they don't bother w/Guardian ink-lickers.
But 'tis the Solfs. I haven't found a book about the Solfs before.
— Nov 01, 2025 09:28AM
a. Freedland isn't a historian, he's a tabloid journo & thriller writer,
b. He's a pro-Israel Jew, bias is a given with sensitive/controversial aspects of Israeli & Jewish history.
c. His book on Vrba was so bad I'm surprised no more people called it out, but maybe they don't bother w/Guardian ink-lickers.
But 'tis the Solfs. I haven't found a book about the Solfs before.
32 likes · Like flag
Marquise’s Previous Updates
Marquise
is 10% done
"Elisabeth saw what the Third Reich had in mind for Christianity, as it sought to create a new ‘German church’ that would be an arm of the all-powerful Nazi state and in which Adolf Hitler would outrank Jesus Christ."
Uh? Steigmann-Gall is LOLing.
Fine, I know Freedland learnt about the Solfs yesterday, but after bragging about his research, this makes 3 strikes of wild false claims so early & I bail out.
— Nov 06, 2025 07:15PM
Uh? Steigmann-Gall is LOLing.
Fine, I know Freedland learnt about the Solfs yesterday, but after bragging about his research, this makes 3 strikes of wild false claims so early & I bail out.
Marquise
is 10% done
You can tell from how Freedland writes each member of the Solf Circle who his favourites are and who aren't.
The pretty girls certainly are, ha.
But is he aware that his suspense film style of writing makes Maria von Maltzan look like the stupidest member of the Circle? If this was fiction, we'd complaints that her character was Too Stupid To Live.
She deserves better.
Do I give this a few more pages or DNF now?
— Nov 06, 2025 05:26PM
The pretty girls certainly are, ha.
But is he aware that his suspense film style of writing makes Maria von Maltzan look like the stupidest member of the Circle? If this was fiction, we'd complaints that her character was Too Stupid To Live.
She deserves better.
Do I give this a few more pages or DNF now?
Marquise
is 3% done
I want to give Freedland the benefit of the doubt, but he's not cooperating.
Two short notes & 2 chapters in, he already made two capital mistakes that are big red flags in history writing:
a. Grand generalisations based on partial & incomplete stats.
b. Ascribing thoughts & feelings to dead people he didn't know nor interview.
He should've written a novel, added that it's a true story & let people check sources.
— Nov 03, 2025 05:35PM
Two short notes & 2 chapters in, he already made two capital mistakes that are big red flags in history writing:
a. Grand generalisations based on partial & incomplete stats.
b. Ascribing thoughts & feelings to dead people he didn't know nor interview.
He should've written a novel, added that it's a true story & let people check sources.
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
(last edited Nov 01, 2025 10:54AM)
(new)
-
added it
Nov 01, 2025 10:54AM
Good luck 👍🏼, won this off goodreads giveaways but haven't gotten to it yet.
reply
|
flag
TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Good luck 👍🏼, won this off goodreads giveaways but haven't gotten to it yet."Thank you, TL! We shall see how it goes.
So far, Freedland's "I researched this from here to Jerusalem" opening disclaimer is amusing. Like he knows he'll get observations to his claims & interpretations of the source history and defensively drops the receipts at the entrance.
Marquise wrote: "TL *Humaning the Best She Can* wrote: "Good luck 👍🏼, won this off goodreads giveaways but haven't gotten to it yet."Thank you, TL! We shall see how it goes.
So far, Freedland's "I researched th..."
👍🏼 👍🏼
Aah okay gotcha 👌, what's his reputation overall?
Judging from his past book? Not a good impression, I'd say. He has a column in The Guardian, if you're curious.
Marquise wrote: "Judging from his past book? Not a good impression, I'd say. He has a column in The Guardian, if you're curious."👍🏼 👍🏼
