The Book of KingsOne of the publishing sensations of last year, and now sold in Germany, Spain, Holland, Italy, and the UK, James Thackara's The Book of Kings is set across the entire continent of Europe in the years shortly before and during World War II. Charged with the gorgeous ambiance of Hemingway's Paris and rivaling the scope of Dostoevsky and Melville, The Book of Kings tracks Germany's drift toward Nazism from 1932, when a quartet of students at the Sorbonne -- David and Johannes, both German; Justin, a French/Algerian scholarship student; and Duncan, an American with an attachment to "old" Europe -- shares an apartment on the Rue de Fleurus. Thackara brilliantly weaves the stories of these four men whose lives mirror the larger picture. The Book of Kings is a work of extraordinary vision and range magnificently fusing mythology and the inexorable events of history. |
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ahead Algiers army Baron Baron Sunda began Berlin Carbonne crowd dark David Doktor Godard door Doré Duncan Europe eyes face father feeling fell Fleurus forest French Friedrich Führer gaze German girl glanced Grinda Gruppenführer Guderian Gustav hair hands head hear heard Heidrun Hélène Hitler hour Ibn Moushmun Jean-Marc Johann Justin felt Justin Lothaire Justin rose Justin saw knew laughed Lavil Le Trève light listened looked Luz's Melanie minutes Monsieur morning mother Nacht und Nebel Nazi never night Oberführer Oberlinden Obersturmbannführer once Otto Paris remember road Rochet rose Russian seated seemed seen shoulders shouted silence smile Smolensk soul stared stood stopped suddenly Sunda's tank tell things thought Tipasa tonight took Trève turned voice waiting walked wall watched waved Wehrmacht whispered window woman words young