Avenue of Spies by Alex Kershaw

The past few years of major anniversaries for important events of World War II coupled with the passing of so many of the heroes and villains of that time have brought forth a plethora of interesting and lesser known stories from the war.  Avenue of Spies tells of the occupation of Paris and the French Resistance from the perspective of an American doctor who lived in Paris and worked at the American hospital there in alternating chapters with the point of view of the Nazi and SS officers who took over most of the residences on the Avenue Foch, where Doctor Sumner Jackson also lived.  The tale includes heroic deeds, nasty Nazis, and slimy collaborators, many of whom were able to thrive after the war when others whose crimes were arguably less, but whose influence and social standing were also less, were imprisoned or executed.  The Germans are portrayed almost completely unsympathetically, as subhuman sadists, which is unfortunate.  A more balanced portrayal might have given the book more depth.  Though there were several gripping passages, as a whole, it is not of the caliber of Ben Macintyre’s work in Double Cross, or Operation Mincemeat.  The material is all there, but somehow, the narrative doesn’t gel.  The reader keeps waiting for the story to get off the starting blocks and it never does.  This is a good title where the interest in World War II or nonfiction espionage is high, but an additional purchase elsewhere. 

Book to be published August 4, 2015

June's Rating System:  Language--PG;  Sexual Content--PG some nudity due to concentration camp situations, some descriptions of relationships between adults.  Nothing graphic.  GLBT content--PG;  Violence--R it is a book about war and killing and espionage;  Substance Abuse--PG lots of drinking and smoking;  Adult Themes--war, political prisons, resistance fighters, etc.  

Robin's Comments:  This is a very serviceable book, just not a great one.  I found it interesting, especially the vagaries of who survived and who didn't, who got caught and how.  So much depended on coincidence and luck.  If you have students who like to read about history or espionage, then this will be a good title, bu the writing does not flow quite as easily as Erik Larsen--one never forgets that one is reading a history book and not a novel.