Although it does not approach the in-depth reportage of Albert Camus, Rebecca West or Alistair Cooke, all of whom have tackled similar subject matter, this German best-seller is still a work of considerable substance and obvious skill, startling in its information, shattering in implication, a fascinating and fast- reading survey of what might be called the underground spirit-of-the-age. It is Dr. Boveri's thesis that all 'traitors' studied here opposed the prevailing middle class rule and the egalitarian 'fallacy' stemming from the French Revolution, the particular bete noir being 'progress' or rationalism, commercialized capitalism or socialized bureaucracy; each hated the end of individualism and saw salvation through an ancien regime restoration or in nihilism or a sort of futuristic dream world; some were quixotic, others psychopathic, and not a few downright heroic, especially as in the little known July 20th cenacle, the dashing Count von Stauffenberg and his cohorts who executed the doomed attempt on Hitler's life. Besides names like Quisling, King Leopold, William Joyce, Knut Hamsun and Pound, Dr. Boveri examines the self-deception of Laval, the cultured cynicism of Darlan, the much camouflaged Rote Kapelle of the Third Reich, followed by the schizophrenic realpolitik of present day Germany, exemplified in the divided consciousness of Otto John. An essayistic thriller, sharp, sure, sophisticated and true

David Duchovny: Kirkus

PS l'image de couverture est celle de l'édition de 1964 (je n'ai pas la "dust jacket" de mon exemplaire.)