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Flight from Berlin: A Novel (2012)

di David John

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779344,866 (3.54)6
"August 1936: The eyes of the world are on Berlin, where Adolf Hitler is using the Olympic Games to showcase his powerful new regime. Cynical British journalist Richard Denham knows that the carefully staged spectacle masks the Nazis' ruthless brutality, and he's determined to report the truth. Sparks fly when the seasoned newspaperman meets the beautiful and rebellious American socialite Eleanor Emerson. A superb athlete whose brash behavior got her expelled from the U.S. Olympic swim team, Eleanor is now covering the games as a celebrity columnist for newspapers in the States. While Berlin welcomes the world, the Nazi capital becomes a terrifying place for Richard and Eleanor. Their chance encounter at a reception thrown by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels leads them into the center of a treacherous game involving the Gestapo and the British Secret Intelligence Service. At stake: a mysterious dossier that threatens to destroy the leadership of the Third Reich. Drawn together by danger and passion, surrounded by enemies, Richard and Eleanor must pull off a daring plan to survive. But one wrong move could be their last."--Dust jacket.… (altro)
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Flight From Berlin is a fast-paced historical thriller centering around the 1936 Berlin Olympics and a mysterious secret dossier with dangerous information from Hitler's past. Olympic swimmer Eleanor Emerson and reporter Richard Denham are unlikely heroes and unlikely companions in this adventure, but they are likable characters whose passion for each other and for doing the right thing truly make this an enjoyable read. Although some of the events in the novel become increasingly implausible as the plot unfolds, this page-turner will appeal to fans of authors such as Dan Brown. David John's skillful interweaving of historical fact and fiction is reminiscent of Dan Fesperman's The Armsmaker of Berlin, another historical thriller dealing with Nazi Germany. ( )
  KayMackey | Jan 7, 2014 |
I was dubious about this book when I read that it was by a first-time author and it featured a mix of wholly fictional characters, fictional characters based on historical characters (like Olympians Eleanor Holm and Helene Mayer), and historical characters (like the U.S. Ambassador Dodd and his daughter, Martha, and U.S. Olympian Louis Zamperini). I worried that this would be a formulaic book, borrowing hugely from the recent bestsellers In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (about the Dodds) and Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (about Zamperini). My concern was misplaced, at least partly. The real historical characters are bit players and both kinds of fictional characters are brought to life by David John.

The book *is* formulaic, but mostly in a good way. It's a straight-ahead espionage thriller, with American and British good guys running around trying to outwit evil Nazis. It has a cinematic style, meaning plenty of flashy action sequences and dramatic scenes, and not a lot of deep thoughts. It isn't the kind of book I'd want to read exclusively, but it's a good palate cleanser between heavier fare.

The story begins right before the 1936 Berlin Olympics, with previous gold-medal swimmer Eleanor Emerson learning she's been chosen to compete for the United States. Eleanor is a privileged young woman, daughter of a United States Senator. But she's no snob. She occasionally sings in a dance band and enjoys drinking, smoking and nightlife. Her background and predilections make for immediate conflict with Avery Brundage, head of the American Olympic team and a real martinet. When Eleanor flouts his rules once too often, he kicks her off the team and orders her home. But she's made herself popular with the press traveling aboard ship and is quickly named an Olympics correspondent.

Once in Berlin, she meets British reporter Richard Denham. In classic Hollywood movie style, they clash and then come together. They become involved in the story of Hannah Liebermann, a world-class fencer who is the sole Jewish member of the German Olympic delegation and, separately, a mysterious dossier that the Nazis are desperate to acquire.

The action of the plot moves from the Olympic games to the streets and clubs of Berlin, a party at the home of notorious Nazi propaganda chief Josef Goebbels, the famed Tiergarten and, most spectacularly, the zeppelin Hindenburg. Author David John sets believable scenes and populates them with lively characters, propelled along by a well-paced plot. My only real problem with the book is that John bases the dossier plot on a bit of historical speculation by a few historians that left a bad taste in my mouth and that may be offensive to some readers.

I've read a couple of other recent novels also set at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: Rebecca Cantrell's A Game of Lies (Hannah Vogel) and Frank Deford's Bliss, Remembered. Flight from Berlin compares favorably to both of those books.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free review copy of this book. ( )
  MaineColonial | Apr 7, 2013 |
Starting during the 1936 Berlin Olympics and taking place just pre-WWII, Flight From Berlin is a fascinating look at a pivotal time period as the world decides how to react to Nazi Germany. Almost by chance, an English reporter and a beautiful American athlete-turned-reporter receive information which could effect the outcome of that decision. They also become personally involved with a Jewish family who they hope to help escape.

There were parts of this book I liked a lot and parts I really didn’t. I think one reason for that was the somewhat uneven pacing. Events start slowly, then there’s a lot of action, then a kind of boring lull followed by some very exciting action. The initial dialog also felt a little choppy and unbelievable to me, although I’m not sure if that changed because the dialog really improved or if my initial problems were simply part of the process of starting a new book. One thing that was well done from the very beginning was the creation of atmosphere. The author never just spells out the fact that there is both rising fear and fanaticism lurking beneath the surface of German society, but little events do a lot to convey that impression. It was both very cool and very creepy to get a feel for what that time might have been like.

The other strong point of this book was the author’s ability to build an awesome story so tightly tied to historical events and speculation that it very nearly could have happened. The use of real people for even some of the more minor characters appealed to me a lot. It made the book more exciting and believable to google the names of even minor characters and find out they were real! I also liked how much information was available at the end of the book, explaining which characters were real and which just modeled on real people, as well as identifying plot elements based on speculation by historians.

There were just two things which I think kept this from being up there with Tom Clancy novels for me. First, while the action scenes were incredible without being over the top, there were some lulls which made the plot drag a little. And second, I didn’t think the information everyone was trying to get their hands on was all it was cracked up to be. After the build up, learning the contents of the dossier seemed like kind of a let down. As a result, all of the attempts to control the contents felt less urgent. Finally, I think it’s worth mentioning that this was at times a pretty violent book. The violence was never described graphically, but it was still quite brutal and was just this side of being too much for me.

This review first published at Doing Dewey. ( )
  DoingDewey | Nov 6, 2012 |
Europe during the rise of Nazi power has long captured our collective imaginations. In Flight from Berlin, David John takes us to Nazi Germany during the 1936 Olympics. The story unfolds from the points of view of two unlikely heroes, British journalist Richard Denham and privileged Olympic athlete Eleanor Emerson.

Richard Denham is a British journalist living in Berlin well acquainted with the changes in Germany. During a reporting assignment about travel on the Hindenburg, Denham meets Friedrich Christian a gay actor with a fondness for the counterculture of old Berlin with its warm boys and hot jazz. As Denham and Christian talk about the changes in Germany, we get a fuller sense of the openness of the Weimar Republic and how this has suddenly changed as Hitler and the Nazi Party have cracked down on the "undesirables". While Denham clearly disagrees with the Nazi agenda, he hadn't planned on getting involved in German politics. The growing cruelty and attacks on innocents grates on Denham and it seems clear that he won't be able to remain neutral. Somehow, either through his friends or his enemies, Denham attracts attention.

Eleanor Emerson comes to the same place through a different route. At the start of the novel, Eleanor Emerson is far from political. When her father, Senator Emerson, suggests that she refuse to participate because sending athletes "will be condoning, lending respectability to the most iniquitous, the most unconscionable regime..." she shakes him off. Eleanor has worked hard for the chance to compete and fully intends to do so. Her Park Avenue pedigree and high spirits get her into deep trouble and put her in the position of seeing the Olympics in another light. As Eleanor learns of how the German organizers have removed and threatened Jewish athletes, Eleanor finds herself getting personally involved.

Denham and Emerson meet at a society event and they connect. When they cover the Berlin Olympics, they meet Jewish fencer Hannah Liebermann. As Denham and Emerson learn how the Liebermanns are treated, their sense of fairness leads them to take matters into their own hands - and opens up a world of danger.

David John's Flight from Berlin is well researched and complex - a fun, fascinating read.

ISBN-10: 0062091565 - Hardcover $24.99
Publisher: Harper (July 10, 2012), 384 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine Program and the publisher. ( )
  gaby317 | Aug 29, 2012 |
With the London Olympic Games already under way, Flight From Berlin by David John is a novel that can demonstrate the political turmoil beneath even the most beloved sporting event across the globe. It is set during the 1936 Olympic games in Germany just as Adolf Hitler is gaining more power, and British journalist Richard Denham is fully aware of the brutality the Nazis hope to hide behind the spectacle of the games. Mrs. Eleanor Emerson is an Olympic hopeful whose father, a senator, is very much against the United States’ participation in the games and who eventually gets kicked off the team when her rebellious behavior aboard ship gets her into all kinds of trouble with her father’s nemesis. Fate conspires to bring these two together as Emerson is offered a job as a reporter for William Randolph Hearst’s media empire given her connections with the team.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/07/flight-from-berlin-by-david-john.html ( )
  sagustocox | Jul 30, 2012 |
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"August 1936: The eyes of the world are on Berlin, where Adolf Hitler is using the Olympic Games to showcase his powerful new regime. Cynical British journalist Richard Denham knows that the carefully staged spectacle masks the Nazis' ruthless brutality, and he's determined to report the truth. Sparks fly when the seasoned newspaperman meets the beautiful and rebellious American socialite Eleanor Emerson. A superb athlete whose brash behavior got her expelled from the U.S. Olympic swim team, Eleanor is now covering the games as a celebrity columnist for newspapers in the States. While Berlin welcomes the world, the Nazi capital becomes a terrifying place for Richard and Eleanor. Their chance encounter at a reception thrown by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels leads them into the center of a treacherous game involving the Gestapo and the British Secret Intelligence Service. At stake: a mysterious dossier that threatens to destroy the leadership of the Third Reich. Drawn together by danger and passion, surrounded by enemies, Richard and Eleanor must pull off a daring plan to survive. But one wrong move could be their last."--Dust jacket.

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