Heinrich Gimpel es un respetado oficial del mando supremo de la Armada alemana. Ciudadano ejemplar, vive en Berlín con su esposa y sus tres hijas, a quienes inculca los valores de la lealtad y la obediencia al Führer. La suya será la perfecta familia aria... sino fuera porque no pertenece a la raza superior. Como tantos otros berlineses, en un mundo dominado por los nazis, los Gimpel viven ocultando su condición de judíos: acatan las consignas del régimen ante los demás mientras rezan en soledad para que no les descubran. Ahora soplan vientos de cambio y tendrán que elegir entre seguridad y libertad...

A really good premise but let down by lacklustre pacing in places, as well as a plot that centres around too little, yet in the most well thought out and terrifying background. Good, but not brilliant. ( )

I was a little disappointing with this book. First of all, it took me ages. I kept picking it up and putting it down. That's never a good sign. Parts were great, others just dragged and dragged. I realize the point of all the card games, but I don't think that I needed to have a rundown on the rules, or who was pulling what card. It was way too much detail.

The alternate world Turtledove set up was very good. In fact, I wouldn't have minded having more of that. I, however, was rather disappointed with the ending. It had a very unfinished feeling about it. But, I was happy to have finished the book. I was sick to death of having it stare at me from my bedside table! ( )

I enjoyed this novelette much more than the later novel with the same title. ( )

Having Jews secretly surviving in the alternate Nazi empire is an interesting and well- executed twist on the old alt.history cliche, but Turtledove yet again fails to come up with any alternative history - just retreads of the real thing. Just as the Jake Featherstone saga follows Hitler's career to the letter so the fall of the Nazi empire follows the fall of the USSR. To the letter. As soon as I read that the Fuhrer and his wife were off on holiday in Croatia I knew exactly what would ensue, and lo, it did. This kind of killed the suspense. Oh, and I could have seriously done without the blow-by-blow accounts of bridge games. One star for the idea, but shoddy plotting. ( )