The Escape Artist

"An astonishing true story of courage, love, and betrayal, told with the verve of a thriller. Freedland is a master at weaving spellbinding entertainments drawn from forgotten corners of history."—Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow HorsesFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist, an extraordinary true story of resistance, heroism and betrayal.When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.Berlin, 1943: A group of high society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer’s afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo.They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador’s widow and a pioneering head mistress. What unites every one of them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance: meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer's rule. Or so they believe.How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap?Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich’s cruelest men, they showed a heroism in the face of the most vengeful regime in history that raises the question: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?

When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth. Berlin, 1943. A group of high-society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo - revealing their secret to the Nazis' most ruthless detective. They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering headmistress. Meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer's rule, what unites them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance. Or so they believe. How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap? And who betrayed them? Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruellest men, they showed a heroism that raises a question with new urgency for our time: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?PRAISE FOR THE ESCAPE ARTIST:'Thrilling' Daily Mail'Gripping' Guardian'Heartwrenching' Yuval Noah Harari'Magnificent' Philip Pullman'Excellent' Sunday Times'Inspiring' Daily Mail'An immediate classic' Antony Beevor'Awe inspiring' Simon Sebag Montefiore'Shattering' Simon Schama'Utterly compelling' Philippe Sands'A must-read' Emily Maitlis'Indispensable' Howard Jacobson

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER<BR>FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE ESCAPE ARTIST<BR><BR>A THE ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>'Magnificent . . . Important and impressive' <BR>DAILY TELEGRAPH<BR><BR>'Astonishing . . . Freedland is a master'<BR>MICK HERRON<BR><BR>'Remarkable . . . This is how the best history books will be written in the future'<BR>ANDREW ROBERTS<BR><BR>'Utterly gripping - and brilliantly told'<BR>DOMINIC SANDBROOK<BR><BR>'Excellent . . . Perfect reading for this moment'<BR>ANNE APPLEBAUM<BR><BR>'Utterly gripping, brilliantly researched and written'<BR>ANTHONY HOROWITZ<BR><BR>'Compelling'<BR>MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES<BR><BR>'Thrilling, humane, and deeply moving . . . Not to be missed'<BR>DAVID McCLOSKEY<BR><BR>'Totally gripping and timely'<BR>JONATHAN DIMBLEBY<BR><BR>When the whole world is lying, someone must tell the truth.<BR><BR>Berlin, 1943. A group of high-society anti-Nazi dissenters meet for a tea party one late summer afternoon. They do not know that, sitting around the table, is someone poised to betray them all to the Gestapo - revealing their secret to the Nazis' most ruthless detective.<BR><BR>They form a circle of unlikely rebels, drawn from the German elite: two countesses, a diplomat, an intelligence officer, an ambassador's widow and a pioneering headmistress. Meeting in the shadows, rescuing Jews or plotting for a future Germany freed from the Führer's rule, what unites them is a shared loathing of the Nazis, a refusal to bow to Hitler and the courage to perform perilous acts of resistance. Or so they believe.<BR><BR>How did a group of brave, principled rebels, who had successfully defied Adolf Hitler for more than a decade, come to fall into such a lethal trap? And who betrayed them?<BR><BR>Undone from within and pursued to near-destruction by one of the Reich's cruellest men, they showed a heroism that raises a question with new urgency for our time: what kind of person does it take to risk everything and stand up to tyranny?

THE NEW BOOK THE TRAITORS CIRCLE OUT NOW FROM JONATHAN FREEDLAND<BR><BR>SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE, RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE, WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR AND LONGLISTED FOR THE WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE<BR><BR>A MAIL ON SUNDAY, THE TIMES, THE ECONOMIST, GUARDIAN, THE SPECTATOR, TIME, AND DAILY EXPRESS/DAILY MIRROR BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>'Thrilling' Daily Mail<BR>'Gripping' Guardian<BR>'Heartwrenching' Yuval Noah Harari<BR>'Magnificent' Philip Pullman<BR>'Excellent' Sunday Times<BR>'Inspiring' Daily Mail<BR>'An immediate classic' Antony Beevor<BR>'Awe-inspiring' Simon Sebag Montefiore<BR>'Shattering' Simon Schama<BR>'Utterly compelling' Philippe Sands<BR>'A must-read' Emily Maitlis<BR>'Indispensable' Howard Jacobson<BR><BR>April 1944. Nineteen-year-old Rudolf Vrba and fellow inmate Fred Wetzler became two of the very first Jews to successfully escape Auschwitz. Evading the thousands of SS men hunting them, Vrba and Wetzler made the perilous journey on foot across Nazi-occupied Poland.<BR><BR>Their mission: to reveal to the world the truth of the Holocaust.<BR><BR>Vrba's unique testimony would save some 200,000 lives.<BR><BR>But he kept on running - from his past, from his home country, his adopted country, even from his own name. Now, at last, Rudolf Vrba's heroism can be known.