Dieppe, August 1942. A catastrophe no headline dared admit.
Plans are underway for the boldest raid yet on Nazi-occupied France. Over six thousand men will storm ashore to take the port of Dieppe. Lives will change in an instant – both on the beaches and in distant capitals.
Annie Wrenne, working at Lord Mountbatten's cloak-and-dagger Combined Operations headquarters, is privy to the top secret plans for the daring cross-Channel raid.
Young Canadian journalist George Hogan, protégé of influential Lord Beaverbrook, faces a crucial assignment that will test him to breaking point.
And Abwehr intelligence officer Wilhelm Schultz is baiting a trap to lure thousands of Allied troops to their deaths…
Three lives linked by Operation Jubilee: the Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942. Over six thousand men will storm the heavily defended French beaches.
Less than half of them will make it back alive.
The blockbuster SPOILS OF WAR non-chronological collection features compelling recurring characters whose fragmented lives mirror the war that shattered the globe.
It's my pleasure to be hosting The Blood of Others by Graham Hurley today. Many thanks to Head of Zeus and Ransom PR for inviting me and for my advance digital copy of the book.
The Blood of Others is the eighth book in Graham Hurley's loose, non-chronological Spoils of War series and having only read Last Flight to Stalingrad before this, served to remind me that as somebody who loves impeccably researched, gripping historical fiction, particularly of this period, I really should do myself a long overdue favour and read the previous books in the series too. Unusually for a series, each book is very definitely a stand-alone, with recurring characters only making occasional reappearances, so it's perfectly acceptable to start here and then read the others novels in any order.
Although The Darkest Hour is used to refer to an earlier period of World War II, it could be argued that much of 1942 could just as accurately be described as the darkest days. Defeats in North Africa, the fall of Singapore and the U-boat blockade in the Atlantic mean that despite the early success of the Battle of Britain and the subsequent re-defining of the mass evacuation at Dunkirk as a "triumph plucked from disaster", Churchill is under pressure. Rallies for the Second Front Now campaign to thin out the German divisions pummelling Russia are attracting large numbers, supported by Lord Beaverbrook, owner of the Daily Express and it's his talented young protégé who becomes the empathetic, increasingly haunted protagonist of the story. At the start of the book, George Hogan is an ambitious rookie journalist in Canada whose ambitious 'taste' for a story soon propels him to follow his fellow Canuck to London and the Daily Express.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm Schultz is a former Brownshirt turned Abwehr intelligence officer, stationed in Paris on the eve of war. He is conducting a passionate affair with wealthy socialite Odile and clearly enjoying the best the City of Light has to offer. A shocking scene at a party reveals the largely hidden brutal side to his character but despite his obvious intelligence and the complex schemes he puts into action for his country, his later evident enjoyment of the slaughter he witnesses – and is partially responsible for – starkly reflects the dehumanising consequences of war.
The slow-burning plot switches between Hogan and Schultz, with the former becoming more entangled in plans and conspiracies beyond anything he could have expected. George is a staunch Baptist who doesn't drink or smoke but as he falls in love with the confident, mysterious Annie, his life changes irrevocably. Our sympathies naturally lie with George throughout but the chapters following Schultz are compelling too; this glimpse into the cold-hearted cunning of the military intelligence service is all the more interesting knowing the pressures they face since Himmler's SS have become the favoured Intelligence Service.
Their two storylines are gradually drawn together, eventually resulting in Operation Jubilee (the Dieppe Raid) on 19th August 1942. History already tells us that it was a catastrophe for the Allied forces, especially the Canadian troops but still the descriptions which lay bare the bloody slaughter are sobering to read. The effect the unmitigated fiasco has on George is portrayed without great drama which is actually more moving and a poignant reminder of the quiet suffering and subsequent guilt of so many people who became pawns in the machinations of their governments and military leaders.
The role of propaganda is explored throughout The Blood of Others with Graham Hurley recognising both the importance of home front morale and the sickening spinning of the terrible loss of scores of lives into a "reconnaissance in force." The overwhelming impression of this aptly titled novel, however, is how ambition and power on both sides led to the spilling of so much blood. A fascinating, compulsive read and one I highly recommend.
The Blood of Others is published by Aries, an imprint of Head of Zeus and can be purchased from bookshop.org, Hive, Waterstones, Amazon or your favourite independent bookshop.
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