This book has all the ingredients of a top notch spy thriller - intelligence services, secret agents, betrayals, intrigue, life and death, cover-ups, sex (a little, anyway), murder, suspense - except it's all true. And according to the author, all the characters, even the minor ones, are real. The most interesting aspect is that, although it reads like a modern adventure, it actually takes place in 1890's France.
The story is told in first person, present tense. This infrequently used technique adds to the immediacy (or "presence") of the book. By doing this, the author causes you to feel as if you are in the scene, and you in effect live the book as the main character lives the tale. Further, the text is filled with rich, colorful language which is a pleasure to read. It is full of period and colloquial words and constructions, transporting your mind into the era while you read.
It is about a man named Alfred Dreyfus, a French army major accused of treason, and is told by another French officer, Marie-Georges Picquart, who jeopardizes his career to get to the bottom of the story. There are innumerable plot twists and changes in direction, events unfold in unexpected ways, and the outcome is most certainly not what you think. The main characters are exceedingly well developed, causing you to know them and feel their triumphs and especially their tribulations. By the time you reach the end of the book (which spans most of the final decade of the nineteenth century) you have come to intimately know some new people, you are appalled at the corruption and subterfuge that exists at the highest levels of government, you are thrilled by the accomplishments and successes of the heroes, and you are disappointed by unfortunate realities that can't be written away in a fiction-based novel.
This book is a pleasure to read. I read a few books by this author a few years ago, then rediscovered him with this one. He is very good at what he does. Read it, and take your time to enjoy it.
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Brutally Honest Book Reviews
This excellent story is over 100 years old, is as modern as yesterday, and deserves your time.
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2018Verified Purchase
Jack Hicks
Excellent page turner
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2017Verified Purchase
James Kenney
This book is thought-provoking, and may lead readers to devote themselves to fighting for the rights of persecuted minorities.
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2017Verified Purchase
st clair
Brilliant novel by Robert Harris
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2016Verified Purchase
Jerry
This story is so important and this book is so well written that I feel it should be required reading in High Schools
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2017Verified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
ROBERT B. WORLEYmazon Customer
His research is painstaking and I am personally amazed that he has managed to retain the tension throughout ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2017Verified Purchase
Gareth Russell
You'll be screaming with indignation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2017Verified Purchase
John Russell Tomlinson
Excellent Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2017Verified Purchase
Sana
Amazing - and works even if you don't know about the Dreyfus Affair. Better than Fatherland!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2015Verified Purchase
oyarzun
Incredibly good, I read it in 3 days, enjoyed it very much, and learned a lot
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2020Verified Purchase