This is a huge book, 975 dense pages in the English translation I read. It is historical fiction of WW2 as narrated by a Nazi SD officer. Though reading it is a huge undertaking, much of it is extremely gripping, so it isn't that difficult to get through. I have heard an aphorism to the effect that music exists to say things that cannot be said with words. In the same vein, fiction exists to illuminate some ineffable truths that non-fiction can't quite manage to convey. This is one of those fictional works - akin to 1984, All Quiet On The Western Front, Catch 22, et al. No book can better explain how the Germans could do what they did - to quote the book's narrator: "there is no inhumanity, just humanity." How nationalism, extreme bureaucracy, and the relaxation of moral standards in war, can turn a Christian nation into the evil machine that was Nazi Germany.For anyone uncertain about whether to take on the challenge of reading the whole book, read from middle of page 670 to the middle of page 672, to get a sense for how the author engages your mind.I must also note that this book is the most comprehensively researched novel I have ever encountered. The level of (seemingly accurate) detail throughout is mind boggling. I can understand why the French granted Jonathan Littell honorary citizenship for the writing of this book (first published in French in 2006).

stunning, brilliant and wildly ambitious!