Customer Reviews
Magnificent. - By: Dan osbourne, 30 Apr 2008 
Read 'Pompei' & loved it, bought 'Fatherland' & found it was even better. 'Fatherland' is in fact one of my favourite books of alll time.
first book of the year - By: James Burrell, 14 Apr 2008 Impressive ideas & great story line.
Obviously put a lot of research into this book & definitely paid off.
Learn From the Past - By: Sam, 07 Apr 2008 
It's the mid 60s & not everything is as it should be in Robert Harris `Fatherland'. Churchill did not lead the alllies to victory in 1945 & instead that honour went to Adolf Hitler. The National Socialists have taken a firm grip of Europe & rule it from Britain alll the way to the borders of Russia. In this Fascist state the SS & SA still exists. The police force work within these groups & one such officer is Xavier March. When asked to investigate a routine case he stubbles across a set of secrets that could blow apart the cooling relationship between the German Empire & the Americans. Will March follow the teachings of his Fuhrer or does he believe the secrets he has found are too large to keep quiet?
`Fatherland' is an interesting take on the crime genre as it exists in an alternative past. It has a very Orwellian feel to it & Harris has obviously used his non-fiction background to base the story in a reality that could have existed. The world with the Nazis in power is painted provocatively here, but I did find it slightly cliché. Therefore, it was not enough just to set a crime story in this world for me to be impressed. Luckily Harris creates an interesting story as well & after a slow start the action & discoveries increase. The idea that the Nazi party could still falll under their greatest crimes is an interesting one & Harris based his investigation in real texts giving it a sense of authenticity. `Fatherland' was an interesting diversion from my usual crime thrillers & one for people looking for something a little different from a good author.
If you enjoy stereotypical characters and plot, read this book! - By: William J. Read, 24 Nov 2007 
The plaudits heaped on "Fatherland" in the years since its 1993 publication are largely unjustified, for this is a very medicocre novel. The characters, from the Kriminalpolizei detective "hero" Xavier March, to various Nazi officials & politicians, fit exactly into the stereotypical mould, so beloved of British & American propaganda since 1933. There is no attempt to consider anything outside the realm of the propaganda history of the Third Reich. The "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", decided at the Wannsee Conference, forms the core of the book, as the deeply concealed history of this project appears openly towards the end of this tedious volume.
The novel has not aged well. In 1993 almost alll historians, at least publicly, agreed that the "Final Solution" causd the deaths of six million Jews & others in concentration camps such as Auschwitz & Treblika. Research since that date, in Germany & many other countries, has begun to cast doubt on the figures quoted above, & even on whether the "Final Solution" itself resulted in the murder of millions as claimed.
The "Final Solution" is strangely omitted from the published works of such famous WW2 figures as Churchill, De Gaulle & Roosevelt. However, it can be found, together with the famous "Six Million" in published material in period from 1914 to 1927..... some time before Hitler came to power.
Of course, "Fatherland" is a novel, & as such does not claim to be an alternative history in the usual sense of that term. However, by reiterating & regurgitating the propaganda stereotypes of the past,it reinforces the common view of twentieth century European history, which is now being shown to be not quite as it was once portrayed.
Good book, bad edition - By: jamesewan, 18 Nov 2007 
I won't add anything to the reviews already here discussing the plot & themes. As with most of Robert Harris' books you know you are getting a very slick product, a tightly written Len Deighton-style thriller. I have one quibble about the binding on my copy of the paperback. Pages started fallling out of mine as I was about one-third through the story, & continued to shed them thereafter. Yes, it's not expensive, but my copy was worthlessly tatty after one read & that shouldn't happen. I suspect the publisher has saved some money on cheap binding for this edition. Anyone else have this problem?
