Author:John Bierman
Swallowed up by the Soviet prison system, the fate of Raoul Wallenberg, saviour of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Nazi holocaust, remains a mystery.
Recently KGB files have been opened and many Communist crimes have been fully exposed. Yet there is still no evidence, apart from a handwritten note of doubtful authenticity, to support the Kremlin's claim that in 1947 Wallenberg, then thirty-five years old, died of a heart attack in prison. On the other hand there is abundant evidence - none of it conclusive, but much of it highly persuasive - that Wallenberg remained alive in captivity long after 1947, broken in body and spirit, somewhere in the vastness of the former Soviet Union.
Righteous Gentile is the first book to tell the full story of Raoul Wallenberg's shining wartime exploits and shameful post-war incarceration.
The camps and their corrosive legacy are Vulliamy's subject in this searing book, in which he writes with controlled and righteous anger about the absence of any "reckoning"
—— Daily TelegraphImpassioned ... riveting and chilling
—— Financial TimesHaunting
—— Sunday TimesA beautifully written and deeply heartfelt study in survival
—— Sunday Business PostA stark and brilliant testimony about a massive human atrocity
—— Sunday Business PostBrilliant account
—— Katie Owen , Sunday TelegraphDelectable biography
—— TelegraphHardman’s Our Queen is the closest thing to an official jubilee portrait. It is thoroughly researched.
—— Times Literary Supplement[A] superb book.
—— Sunday TelegraphWise has brilliantly reconstructed the social histories of the period...The Italian Boy is a lip-smacking, gruesome joy from beginning to end
—— Roger Clarke , IndependentWise has brilliantly combined a scalp-tingler with a scholarly account...It is exceptionally well organised, rich in data and hard to put down
—— Edward Pearce , Glasgow HeraldAnyone intrigued by this tumultuous city will devour London Under in a few transporting hours... packed with revelations... Ackroyd's stylistic brilliance explains why the book remains a rattling good read
—— Christopher Hirst , IndependentFascinating study of everything under London, from rats and eels to monsters and ghosts.
—— Lady (Five-star review)As London's anatomist-in-chief, Peter Ackroyd turns his focus on what lies beneath the capital's surface. Peppered with erudite and literary references, Ackroyd's fluent style makes for entertaining reading
—— James Urquhart , Financial TimesPacked with anecdotes and fascinating trivia...Ackroyd never misses an opportunity to link this hidden realm with the underworlds of mythology
—— Leon Burakowski , Halesowen ChronicleReveals the London beneath your feet in all its fascinating – and sometimes horrifying – glory. Historian and novelist Ackroyd invests his tales of buried rivers and catacombs with enormous energy
—— ELLE Decoration