A tantalizing historical thriller
set in France in 1895. It is about the trial
of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, wrongly accused of
passing secrets to the Germans. Dreyfus is found guilty and sent to Devil's Island for life. It is narrated by Colonel
Georges Picquart as he takes up his position to run the intelligence unit that
identified Dreyfus and his crimes. I found it interesting as it is not a period
of French history I was familiar with.
The first half of the book sets the scene as Picquart slowly gets to
grips with life in the intelligence unit and the politics involved. He discovers that secrets are still being
passed to the Germans and then other information comes to light that forces him to
believe Dreyfus is innocent. Now he just
needs to convince his superiors, but the honour of the French army is at stake
and the ranks close in against him. For me the first half dragged a bit, but once
I got past the halfway point I could not put the book down. The amount of research that the author must
have done is staggering, but at no point did it feel like a history lesson as the story is interwoven with vivid characters whose hopes and fears are believable.
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