Book Review: Return to teh Reich by Eric Lichtblau

Eric Lichtblau’s Return to the Reich is the true story of German Jew Fred Mayer and his struggle against the Nazis. It’s a proper adventure story, almost in the you-couldn’t-make-it-up category. 

Fred’s family fled Germany in 1938 when he was sixteen and had seen enough of the Nazi’s actions against the Jews to instil a bitter hatred and a determination to fight Hitler’s regime with all the resources at his disposal. Turned down when he tried to enlist because of his German citizenship, he was selected by the US secret services and sent out to Austria, from where he sent back regular reports. 

It’s an adventure story packed with twists and turns. Fred’s character and enormous qualities come through and it was almost a real page-turner. I say “almost” because I found the writing a little slow and repetitive at times, although the story itself was enough to carry the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, both as a story and as a historical record. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.