Laurent Binet recounts Operation Anthropoid, the 1942 assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi chief in occupied Czechoslovakia known as the Butcher of Prague, by two Czech and Slovak parachutists, Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. The narrator keeps interrupting the story to question his own method. He discusses what he knows, what he is inventing and how historical fiction should treat real people. The title comes from a German joke: Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich, or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The book follows Heydrich's rise, the preparation of the plot and its brutal consequences.
It suits readers who like World War Two history and novels that think about how history is written. The tone is a mix of reportage and essay, so it appeals to people who like to see an author at work.
Deep and outward-looking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2010
- Language
- EN
