Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 May 2002 — Page 16

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NAT 12 Mav 22. 2002

Book Reviews

Gripping tale shows Buckley’s skill

Review by MORTON I. THICKER Nuremberg: The Reckoning. By William F. Buckley, Jr. New York: Harcourt, 2002. 366 Pages. $25 The author of this novel, William F. Buckley, Jr, first burst onto the public scene in 1951 when he was 26 years old. His book, God and Man at Yale, a diatribe against secularism at his alma mater, from which he had been graduated the year before, received a great deal of attention. He went on to become an icon of the conservative movement in America. The journal he founded in 1955, National Revieiv, was for many years a leading vehicle for conservative intellectuals. His TV program. Firing Line, was also an opportunity for Buckley to spread his right wing views. In addition

to these activities, Buckley has been writing books at the rate of almost one a year. Nuremberg is his 42nd book and his 15th novel. Eleven of his novels were spy thrillers, featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes and providing an opportunity for Buckley to paint a negative portrait of the Soviet Union. His preoccupation with the Cold War was manifest in other books by Buckley, including The Redhunter, which was seen by some critics as an effort to resurrect Joseph McCarthy. In this new book Buckley maintains his rejection of the Soviet Union by taking a slap at the Soviet participants in the Nuremberg trials. The protagonist in the story is Sebastian Reinhard, bom in Germany to an American mother and a German father. As the story de-

velops, Sebastian discovers that his maternal grandfather was Jewish, so that by Nazi reckoning, he is one-quarter Jewish, "a Half-Breed Second Degree." In 1939, when Sebastian is 13, his parents decide to flee from Germany and settle in Phoenix, the home of Sebastian's maternal grandmother, the one who married a Jew. At the last minute, the Gestapo blocks Sebastian's father from leaving. The young boy and his mother proceed to Phoenix. Five years later, at the age of 18, Sebastian is in the Army, and when the war ends, he is sent to Nuremberg to serve as an interpreter, since German is his native language. There are thorough descriptions of the trials, along with depictions of each participant

Thriller mixes real, fictional

Review by MORTON I. THICKER The Company. By Robert Littell. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2002.894 Pages. $28.95 Littell specializes in writing literary spy thrillers. This is his 13th novel in that genre. It deals with the role of the CIA ("The Company") in the Cold War, beginning with the confrontation between the United States in Berlin in 1950 and 1951 and ending in Moscow in 1991 with the Gorbachev putsch. In between, there are sections on the failed Hungarian revolt in 1956, the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1961, the determination of counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton to find the Russian mole in the CIA, and Afghanistan in 1983. Fictional characters are mingled with real people, including CIA directors and American

presidents. A particularly unflattering portrait of Ronald Reagan is presented, showing him as disengaged and dominated by his advisers. By contrast, John F. Kennedy is shown as smart but taken in by the CIA's insistence on organizing an invasion of Cuba. Among the Russians who appear in the story, Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin play significant roles. The Mossad appears in several episodes as partner of the CIA. In Berlin, in 1951, Ezra Ben Ezra, called the Rabbi, is the resident Israeli agent. When the secret plan to bring in a Russian defector unexpectedly fails, the CIA chief in Berlin, known as the Sorcerer, seeks the Rabbi's help. They join forces in the search for the traitor who disclosed the scheme. Referred by the Rabbi to Elihu Epstein, a member of British intelligence, the Sorcerer invokes the

name of Teddy Kollek, and this eventually leads to the unmasking of Kim Philby as the Soviet spy who betrayed the Russian defector. In actuality, Philby was a dangerous mole who almost became the head of British intelligence. In the section dealing with Afghanistan, the Mossad plays a key role in freeing two Americans captured by an Islamic splinter group. Their triumph is compared to what the Israelis achieved at Entebbe as contrasted with the American botched attempt to liberate hostages in Iran. In the final section, the Mossad again appears, this time with a Jewish Russian gangster, in an effort to block the conspirators from ousting Gorbachev. Throughout the book, Littell succeeds in maintaining suspense even though the outcome

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the Germans accused of war crimes, beginning with Goering, and the lawyers, beginning with Justice Robert Jackson as the chief prosecutor. The details reflect the extensive research carried out by Buckley, who utilized a number of books on the trials that he lists in the acknowledgments. Fact mingles with fiction as Buckley recounts the interaction between Sebastian and one of the defendants, Brigadefuehrer Kurt Waldemar Amadeus. One of the prosecutors conducts many interviews with Amadeus during which Sebastian serves as the translator and, eventually, as the interrogator. There is a surprising climax in which Sebastian learns what actually happened to his father. The entire story is told with

great skill, rendering it to be quite believable. Buckley's considerable talent as a writer enables him to present this piece of historical fiction with suspense and with sufficient interest so that the tale grips the reader. Having written so many books as well as hundreds of articles and columns, Buckley has polished his competence so that he is a most proficient and masterly author. Regardless of whether one agrees with his political views, this is a book to savor and relish. Dr. Morton I. Teicher is the Founding Dean of the Wurziveiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, and Dean Emeritus, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

of the historical episodes is well known. For example, the discussions about the Cuban invasion involve Allen Dulles, CIA director. President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Dean Rusk, and others, both actual and fictional. They vigorously debate whether or not to go ahead with the invasion and whether or not to provide American planes. For the moment, the reader is caught up with the pros and cons of the momentous decision that had to be made. Similarly, Boris Yeltsin's emergence as the Russian leader is presented with great excitement but with doubt about the result as the story unfolds.

Littell's well-drawn fictional characters dominate the book as spies and counterspies vie with each other to win the Cold War. Both internal and external battles take place, providing an impressive picture of the CIA and the KGB engaging in mortal combat. Littell combines thorough research with extensive knowledge of espionage to hold his reader's interest despite the fact that this is a very long volume. Dr. Morton I. Teicher is founding Dean, Wurziveiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, and Dean Emeritus, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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