Laurent Binet

Sam Taylor

Imagines the story of two Czechoslovakian partisans responsible for assassinating the "Butcher of Prague" Reinhard Heydrich, traces their escape from the Nazis and recruitment by the British secret service.

A Novel

HHhH

"HHhH blew me away... It's one of the best historical novels I've ever come across."—Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction A Financial Times Best Book of the Year A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice HHhH: "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," or "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich." The most lethal man in Hitler's cabinet, Reinhard Heydrich seemed indestructible—until two exiled operatives, a Slovak and a Czech, killed him and changed the course of history. In Laurent Binet's mesmerizing debut, we follow Jozef Gabcík and Jan Kubiš from their dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to their fatal attack on Heydrich and their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church. A seamless blend of memory, actuality, and Binet's own remarkable imagination, HHhH is at once thrilling and intellectually engrossing—a fast-paced novel of the Second World War that is also a profound meditation on the debt we owe to history.

Maurice FitzGerald

All the self conscious ruminations on history and novel writing seem chatty rather than deep. The book adds nothing to my fairly slight knowledge of the holocaust. There were all bad guys and all good guys and they fought. The bad guys were extremely bad the good guys were extremely brave. The book was listenable especially at the end when he actually told the story. Maybe it was beautifully written and i miss that in the translation.

Everyone has heard of Reinhard Heydrich, the Butcher of Prague. And most have heard stories of his assassination at the hands of two Czechoslovakian partisans. But who exactly were the forgotten heroes who killed one of history’s most notorious men? In this novel, HHhH (Himmlers Hirn heiBt Heydrich, or Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich), we follow the lives of Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubiš, the Slovak and the Czech responsible for Heydrich’s death. From their heroic escape from Nazi-occupied Prague to their recruitment by the British secret services; from their meticulous preparation and training to their harrowing parachute drop into a war zone; from their stealth attack on Heydrich’s car to their own brutal deaths in the basement of a Prague church, Binet narrates the compelling story of these two incredible men, rescuing their heroic acts from obscurity. A seemingly effortless blend of historical truth, personal memory, and Binet’s remarkable imagination, HHhH is a work at once thrilling and deeply engrossing -- a historical novel and a profound meditation on the nature of writing and the debt we owe to history.

Wynter

I've never read a historical fiction book formatted this way. This is a story of an author trying to write a novel based on the assassination attempt of Reinhard Heydrich - one of the most vicious Nazi leaders of WWII, - but it is written unlike most fiction I've ever encountered. In a way HHhH reads like a history book handled by someone with a creative writing degree. It's almost as if you are watching a montage of grainy black-and-white footage from the time period, while the narrator inserts himself into the scenes as an invisible observer and tries to guess what goes on in his subjects' heads. There is a lot of build-up to the final scene, but the actual assassination scene is fantastically written. This format might not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. A hard book to judge right after it's finished. I think I need to digest it a little.

Two men have been enlisted to kill the head of the Gestapo. This is Operation Anthropoid, Prague, 1942: two Czechoslovakian parachutists sent on a daring mission by London to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich - chief of the Nazi secret services, 'the hangman of Prague', 'the blond beast', 'the most dangerous man in the Third Reich'. His boss is Heinrich Himmler but everyone in the says 'Himmler's brain is called Heydrich', which in German spells HHhH. All the characters in HHhH are real. All the events depicted are true. But alongside the nerve-shredding preparations for the attack runs another story: when you are a novelist writing about real people, how do you resist the temptation to make things up?HHhH is a panorama of the Third Reich told through the life of one outstandingly brutal man, a story of unbearable heroism and loyalty, revenge and betrayal. It is improbably entertaining and electrifyingly modern, a moving and shattering work of fiction.

Gary Homewood

A meta fictional historical novel (infranovel) and an exciting war story.

Lucy Newlinds

Alexandra Troshina

Erin P

Hannah Swithinbank

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Two men have been enlisted to kill the head of the Gestapo. This is Operation Anthropoid, Prague, 1942: two Czechoslovakian parachutists sent on a daring mission by London to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich - chief of the Nazi secret services, 'the hangman of Prague', 'the blond beast', 'the most dangerous man in the Third Reich'. His boss is Heinrich Himmler but everyone in the SS says 'Himmler's brain is called Heydrich', which in German spells HHhH. HHhH is a panorama of the Third Reich told through the life of one outstandingly brutal man, a story of unbearable heroism and loyalty, revenge and betrayal. It is a moving and shattering work of fiction. Laurent Binet's highly anticipated new novel, The Seventh Function of Language, is available for pre-order now...

Jamie Thomas

Nicholas Hanemann

Deux parachutistes tchécoslovaques envoyés par Londres sont chargés d’assassiner Reinhard Heydrich, chef de la Gestapo, chef des services secrets nazis, planificateur de la solution finale, protecteur de Bohème-Moravie, surnommé « le bourreau », « la bête blonde », « l’homme le plus dangereux du IIIe Reich ». Après des mois de préparation, il est finalement abattu dans sa Mercedes. Il s’ensuit une folle traque qui se termine dans une église du centre de Prague. HHhH est un acronyme inventé par les SS qui signifie en allemand : « le cerveau d’Himmler s’appelle Heydrich » (Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich). L’essentiel de l’histoire se situe entre 1938 et 1942. Le récit est structuré comme un entonnoir : des chapitres courts relatent différents épisodes en divers lieux et à diverses époques, qui tous convergent vers Prague où s’est déroulé l’attentat. Tous les personnages de ce livre ont réellement existé ou existent encore. L’auteur a rapporté les faits le plus fidèlement possible mais a dû résister à la tentation de romancer. Comment raconter l’Histoire ? Cette question conduit parfois l’auteur à se mettre en scène pour rendre compte de ses conditions d’écriture, de ses recherches, de ses hésitations. La vérité historique se révèle à la fois une obession névrotique et une quête sans fin.

HHhH A Novel

Reviews