On Either Side

By: Jon Halfhide

Narrated by: Rebecca McKernan

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

The haunted mind of a brave patriot; a bitter betrayal by the Third Reich, soothed by the arms of a forbidden affair.

On Either Side is essentially a love story set during World War II between a young German SS Officer, Karl Wulf, and an English nurse Brenda King. The couple meet late in the book when Karl is wounded at the Battle for Caen and brought to a British Field Hospital on the outskirts of the city.

Before this Karl is awarded the Knight's Cross for courage and loyalty to the Reich demonstrated on the Eastern Front, and is assigned by Heinrich Himmler for rest and recuperation to the Sobibor death camp in a benign role to convalesce for a few weeks before being sent back to active service. Here he discovers the true purpose of the camp and is appalled and mentally scarred by the genocide he witnesses. With the help of another guard at the camp he plans a successful escape of a small group of Jewish prisoners.

However, he is suspected of collusion with the escape and so sent back to Berlin. But Himmler admires the qualities of Karl, his bravery and conscientiousness, and adopts him briefly as a confidante before being reunited with his Sobibor co-conspirator and being sent to Limoges in Vichy France to take over command of an SS field base at Masset Farm in Oradour-sur-Glane (village infamous for the Oradour massacre).

With the onset of the D-Day invasion, Karl's orders are changed and he is sent to Paris, under the supervision of the German hierarchy, to root out Jews hiding in the city for deportation to the death camps. But his conscience couldn't entertain such orders and so, before he leaves for Paris, he arranges an escape route, with the help of a local priest, for Jews from Paris to a temporary safe house at Oradour en route to freedom in Spain.

©2017 Jon Halfhide (P)2018 Jon Halfhide

Never judge a soldier by his uniform

This was a very emotional and interesting book. The details are very impressive and the story is written so precisely I started to wonder if I was reading a true story instead of historical fiction.The book deals with the horrors of war and the tragic affect on all participants. A well researched and interesting book.

Best book i ever heard

i like ths book very much...A doctor and A solder love story..2 different life style ,2 different job..but love do not make any difference two those..they fall in love middle in the war

Little Love Affair

I am reading this for a romance challenge and although this is not my typical genre I came in with an open mind. The narration of this book was done quite well and helped keep me interested in the story. I had a real hard time connecting to these characters even though the story had promise

Loved it!

Great story...riveting. Totally enjoyed the storyline and the length of the book. Would definitely recommend this book to others.

War and love

This is an experience everyone should have at least once in a lifetime -- and, with luck, multiple times. Listen and read simultaneously for even more exquisite hours. The reader is fabulous.

A Work of genius

I first read the book when in High School many years ago. Only now do I realize that much of the complexity and substance had escaped my first encounter.This is a timeless classic and a work of genius. The narration was superb. I was sorry to see it end.

Very satisfied to listen this best book.

i love to here this book...story is fabilous...character building is so good.story in the story so mush exciting thing happened...every one love to hear it

This book is even 10 times better than other!

loved it! ,excellent accents performed for different characters, and long and windy plot with all sorts of side stories usually left out of main stream historical depictions.

A huge but good listen

This is indeed a classic both the book itself and the narration. The author does an excelent job with character development. His analysis of History was very thought provoking. The Narrator does a comendable job with voice variations and expression I found I could almost see the characters as he brought them to life. Very worth the investment, if you have the huge amount of time it takes to get through it.

Great noval!

I enioyed the development and depth of the characters during a great story of hope and change to the German