Monday, November 28, 2011

Himmler’s War-Robert Conroy

Himmler’s War


Robert Conroy

Baen, Dec 6 2011, $25.00

ISBN: 9781451637618



In mid June 1944 Germany, an American air raid turns into a dogfight with German planes. The battle is fierce; frightened twentyish First Lieutenant Paul Phips flies away from the fight. The Americans need to release their bombs to preserve fuel for the return trip. They drop a cluster on a group of buildings, unaware that they kill Hitler and his inner command.



SS leader Heinrich Himmler becomes head of the Third Reich. He methodically eliminates those fanatically loyal and connected to Hitler as he cements his control. Himmler also liberates his generals allowing them to fight the war without Hitler’s tether. The allies, especially Great Britain, are weary from years of war. Many decide that Chamberlain not Churchill was right and push for a negotiated peace with Germany as the enemy has the atomic bomb, the American’s great leader FDR is dead and his replacement had only a few weeks to get up to speed.,. However Harry S. Truman proves he has the mettle as he tries to rally the Grand Alliance to continue the fight knowing now that the Americans have superior weaponry.



Fans of Robert Conroy’s alternate history Red Inferno thrillers (1945, 1942, 1901 and 1862) and Harry Turtledove’s War that Came Early saga will fully relish this terrific tale that pivots with the death of Hitler just after the Normandy Invasion. The fighting is seen through the eyes of the grunts on the ground and in the air. They die and lose limbs while the leadership from the comfort in DC, London and Berlin makes policy that kill or maim millions. The key to this superb tale is the flow of events following Hitler’s death seems plausible.



Harriet Klausner



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