Paris, 1938. Nicholas Morath, a Hungarian aristocrat working in advertising, is recruited by his uncle, the diplomat Count Janos Polanyi, for unofficial operations intended to defend Hungary from Nazi domination. Carrying messages, money and documents, Morath moves through Budapest, the Sudeten crisis and the contested borderlands of Central Europe.
His assignments bring him into contact with refugees, nationalist militias, émigré politicians and intelligence officers whose immediate aims rarely align. Against the background of the Munich Agreement and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, the novel explores the impossible choices faced by smaller states seeking protection from Germany without becoming its instruments.
Jacqueline Winspear
20 books
James R. Benn
26 books