Review

The Ratlines, by Philippe Sands, about the life of a committed Nazi, is as thrilling as a John Le Carre novel

By Michael McKernan
May 9 2020 - 12:00am
Horst, with Charlotte, Otto and Traute, Zell-a,-See station, 1944. Picture: NARA.
Horst, with Charlotte, Otto and Traute, Zell-a,-See station, 1944. Picture: NARA.
  • The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive, by Philippe Sands. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. $34.95.

As forensic history, The Ratline is about as good as it gets. In this book you feel and smell the documents on which all history is based. You work on them, you tussle with them. You participate in the interpretation and the explications of the documents as if you need to write the history yourself.

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