War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. - Rated 
The title of Phillip Kerr's latest work, "Hitler's Peace", certainly has an Orwellian ring to it and the very provocative (though counterfactual) thought of a proposed secret peace agreement between the Allies and Hitler's Nazis in 1944 forms the basis of this fast paced thriller.
Kerr wraps his plot around a series of real events from the Second World War, specifically, a series of conferences attended by the leaders of the Allied forces: the Cairo Conference of November 22-26, 1943 (attended by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek) and the Tehran Conference of November 28-December 1, 1943 (at which Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin).
As the book opens, Kerr wraps these conferences around top-secret peace feelers between the Nazi leadership and the various Allied nations. The powers that be in Nazi Germany (and the question of who amongst these powers are involved is a key element of the book) have decided that a two-front war cannot be won. They believe that a general peace agreement may save the day. Failing that, these unspecified highly placed Nazi officials think that making a separate peace with the U.S. and Britain before the expected Allied invasion of France in the summer of 1944 will allow Hitler to turn all his guns against `the Bolsheviks.'
The story is driven by the key protagonist, Willard Mayer. Mayer is an Ivy-League philosopher, fluent in German and currently an analyst with the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA. Mayer lived in Germany before the war and also had some connection to the USSR's secret police, the NKVD. Mayer is asked to assist Franklin Roosevelt in formulating a response to Hitler's proposed peace. "Hitler's Peace" is filled with twists and it is impossible to reveal more about the plot without spoiling the plot.
Although "Hitler's Peace" was a fun, easy read it was far from perfect. An author faces a very difficult task when he/she incorporates real people into a work of fiction. This is particularly difficult when those real people are famous enough for the reader to have a sense of how a Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, or Roosevelt would have acted in real life. If there is too big a gap between our sense of the person and the book's plot then the natural ability to suspend disbelief for purposes of a piece of fiction gets more difficult. That was the case for me with "Hitler's Peace". Churchill's actions seemed in character as did Stalin's (to a lesser extent). However, and even though I know this is fiction, Hitler and Roosevelt's actions just didn't fall within a `zone of reasonableness' for me.
Kerr was more successful in the cameo appearances made by real life but less famous figures. During the course of the book Mayer runs into characters such as Kim Philby and Guy Burgess, members of the British intelligence elite who later turned out to be Soviet double agents. Mayer also runs into a British officer named Enoch Powell. Powell served in the British and was a Greek scholar of great renown. He later became a Member of Parliament known mostly for his virulently anti-immigration views toward non-Caucasian immigrants to Britain. These walk-on appearances were well done and added a bit of fun to the book.
All in all I liked Hitler's Peace despite the reservations expressed above. The book is fast-paced and each chapter leaves you wanting to find out a bit more before you close the book for the night. I'd say this is a good book to take along for a summer weekend at the beech or a fall evening. I'd rate this at 3 and 1/2 stars.
an enjoyable read - Rated 
I think the previous reviewer has missed or forgotten an element in the story - which I won't reveal here because it's a 'spoiler' - which does explain Philby's confidence in talking to Willard Mayer...
I too have a great interest in the era, and found the author's grasp of the period to be above the average of most wartime-set novels, especially the justifiably uneasy relationship the western Allies had with the Soviets. And whilst I agree the author perhaps slightly overdoes the 'guest appearances' of historical personalities, none of their characterisations rings false - in fact they're very skilfully done, and my own litmus test for books like this is always 'how do the nasty Nazis come across...?' Which Kerr passes with flying colours : there's no rug-chewing or movie-Nazi sneering. You do get the sense that the author really has done his research, with little nuggets of information that illluminate the personalities and the reality of wartime relationships and events - although, of course, Hitler never wore his brown Party tunic after the war began..!
I would say that it takes a little time to get fully into thriller mode, but it's worth the wait.
A Disappointing & Implausible Novel! - Rated 
Having read Philip Kerr's outstanding "Berlin Noir Trilogy," I looked forward to the publication of his latest novel, "Hitler's Peace." I was amazed to find myself pushing to get through a plodding narrative based on unlikely events, with totally unrealistic characters. This is, by far, inferior to the author's previous historical thrillers. I am doubly disappointed because I am fascinated by the history of WWII, and having read extensively about that period, I had hoped for a creative fictional account of military and political goings-on in 1943. I would have thought that having authored other novels about the Third Reich, Kerr would have no problem doing so here.
"Hitler's Peace," an alternate history of sorts, revolves around the Teheran Conference, conducted in November 1943 by Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin to discuss military strategy and post World War II Europe. Hitler has realized that, after losing hundreds of thousands of soldiers at Stalingrad, Germany has all but lost the war. Roosevelt has demanded nothing less than the Reich's unconditional surrender. Fearful of what a Russian invasion of the Fatherland would mean, Hitler is secretly exploring possibilities for a separate peace with the British and Americans. Unbeknownst to the Fuehrer, Heinrich Himmler has put out similar peace feelers, and is not opposed to having Hitler assassinated and staging a coup. When a mass grave containing the bodies of over 4000 Polish officers is discovered in the Katyn Forest, near Smolensk, the situation becomes more complex. It is clear that the Russians, who perpetrated this atrocity, wished to rid themselves of potential Polish leaders before they take over the country. The Germans believe that this disclosure will alienate English and American leaders towards Stalin. Subsequently, however, a letter is brought to light revealing the terrible and uncalled-for deaths of more than 50,000 German POWs in Russian camps. Philosopher Willard Mayer, an OSS operative, is central to the plot. He has been chosen by FDR to investigate the Katyn Forest incident, and to act as the presidents envoy during the Teheran Conference. At one time, while a student in Vienna, Meyer was a Communist who spied on the Germans for the Russians. He most definitely does not want this information brought to light. German General Schellenberg, the novel's other focal character, has created an alternate plan to the peace negotiations. He wants to kill the Allied leaders in Teheran. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Hitler, Himmler, Borman, Goering all play active roles in the novel, and Kim Philby, Lord Victor Rothschild, author Rosamund Lehmann, Evelyn Waugh and other members of the rich and famous set make guest appearances. As I wrote previously, many of these personages and their actions do not ring true. For example, Harold Adrian Russell (Kim) Philby was a senior officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) for many years, but was actually an agent of the Soviet KGB, who later defected. In the book he discusses his plan to go to the Soviets if the Brits decide on a separate peace with Nazi Germany. He talks about this openly at a cocktail party with a man, a US government employee, he hasn't seen for years. With this type of indiscretion, Philby hardly would have been as successful a spy as he turned out to be. The incident is ludicrous, and there are others like it. I find it difficult to empathize with any of the self-absorbed individuals who people this book, and am hard-pressed to recommend it to anyone, when I barely got through it myself.
JANA
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