Stattin Station

Начало книги

This novel is set in Germany and German-occupied Europe in the final months of 1941. It opens on November 17th 1941, the day that the Japanese First Air Fleet sailed from Japan's Inland Sea on the first leg of its long voyage to Pearl Harbour. None of the novel's characters, fictional or otherwise, knew that such a voyage was underway until December 7th, when the First Air Fleet reached its destination and brought America into the war.

Ways of leaving Berlin

There was no doubt about it - two years into the war, the Third Reich was beginning to smell.

The U-Bahn was unusually ripe that morning, John Russell thought, though it was only the sheer severity of the pong which gave rise to any surprise. Berliners seemed increasingly reluctant to use the hyper-abrasive standardised soap, which removed both dirt and skin, and there was no alternative to the chemical-rich standardised food, which had created a city-wide epidemic of flatulence. Some laid particular blame on the grey, clayey bread, others on the miracle ingredient which turned the ersatz butter yellow. But whatever the cause, the U-Bahn was the place to experience the consequences, and several of his fellow passengers were travelling with their noses buried deep in scarves and handkerchiefs.

Читать дальше →