I really enjoyed that the author concentrated on several personalities in the system, and their interaction on high-profile cases, some which changed the way the courts worked. It is an eye opening, balanced account in which Israeli and Palestinian lawyers, as well as IDF judges sometime find themselves at odds with the security apparatus.

Gerhart Hauptmann’s first novel, The Fool in Christ, Emanuel Quint, was published in 1910. In 1912 he published the fictional book Atlantis which became a Danish silent film.  The novel told of a romance aboard a doomed ocean liner and was coincidentally written one month before the RMS Titanic sank, but released about a year later. Perceived as insensitive, the film was banned in Norway.

The book mainly fills in the blanks in the non-technical side of the moon landing, the political environment which fostered at the time, as well as how leaders at high levels encouraged or derailed the program based on their own goals and/or selfish reasons.

Mr. Steinhauer refuses to make this novel easy for his readers, but the relish in which he writes, creating a world full of paranoia is worth the effort.

As a member of the London Library, Mr. Stoker has access to research for Dracula. In 2018 the library discovered the books he used for research, along with notes.

Some fascinating stories and anecdotes are included in this book, such as the time President Ronald Reagan saw the movie War Games and asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff if it would be possible for a teenager to execute an attack.

Mr. Mayer must have had balls of steel, he seem to have neve inherited the protective gene of fear. Whether it is to fly a B24 without training, or jump out of it over the Austrian Alps – for the first time.

The drama 1906 God of Vengeance (Got fun nekome) takes place in a Jewish brothel and includes Jewish prostitutes, lesbians, and throwing of the Torah across the stage. The play was translated into about a dozen languages and was very controversial. It was hailed as artistic and beautiful but also as immoral and misrepresenting Jewish traditions.

I was impressed by the research the author has done, rich historical details lend authenticity to the story, even when the paranormal is provoked (not very often, but just right). The narrative remains plausible and the characters seem true to their historical counterparts.

Mr. Stengel makes an excellent case about the first part of his subtitle, but sadly the second part “what can we do about it” is not convincing. Mostly because of the government bureaucracies, slow moving administrative machinery, and simply the way democracies work.