The Knight, Death and the Devil

by Ella Leffland

An historical novel focuses on the life of Hermann Goring, who embodied the paradox of evil

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, World War II

718 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The long and the short of this well-researched and ponderous novel about Hermann Göring is: that evil fat bastard was a human evil fat bastard.

[Dan Galloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

this took me a while to read, but was worth every minute. Such a visceral, convincing portrayal of unparalleled evil and a sheer absence of morality. Felt like an experience more than a book. Don’t have much else to say, this was just a great read.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read numerous books about the history of the Third Reich, including two of Richard Evans' trilogy. "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" is also good (surprisingly so, since it was written for the mass market).

However, this book, a novelization of the life of Hermann Goring, gave me something that history books can't give you - a comprehensive and more personal study of what you could call "evil" (or perhaps there's some psychiatric syndrome that can be applied here).

Leffland takes us from Goring's childhood to his suicide a few hours before his execution in Nuremberg. The novel is rich in minor and major characters, the details of whose lives give the reader a terrific understanding of daily, even hourly life in the Third Reich. And, the details of Goring's life are stunning and chilling. His looted art collection, his enjoyment of French pate fois gras when the bakeries in the cities were empty, his bizarre collection of outfits, the details of his many houses. All of these details are set against such events as the Rohm purge, the passage of the Nuremburg laws, his conduct after Kristallnacht (he proposed that the Jews pay a billion marks penalty for causing Kristallnacht), etc., etc., etc.

The picture of the war and the delusion that fueled it and continued to keep it going, even as it came down to the end - fighting it street by street in Berlin - is terrific.

I highly recommend this, not only for people interested in the Third Reich, but also for people who like a good, long read. At 950 pages, it's satisfyingly long. I awoke every day eager to read more.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still reading it because it has over 700 pages. I literally can not wait to pick this book up and read from where I left off. It not only gives an understanding of how Germany got into WWI but also what happened to Germany afterwards and the rise of Adolph Hitler. It is told through the story of the life of Herman Goring from childhood on. Fascinating book. Fascinating character. Fascinating and scary story about how and why a nation like Germany became what it did at that time.

[Julia Simpson-Urrutia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ella Leffland is a remarkable writer and she depicts Goring, at the outset of this book, as a 20th century German knight. He was as dashing, heroic and handsome a fighter pilot during World War I, surely, as the Red Baron. He came from an almost aristocratic background, son of the first German governor of southwest Africa, Herr Reichkommissar, a remarkably enlightened man. This father eschewed repressive methods for a policy of rapport with the native chieftains of Southwest Africa, "demanding that the Germans under his jurisdiction treat [the native population] with the same civility they would Europeans."
Such a background speaks volumes for the kind of life Herman Goring might have lived had the devil not got in his path. When Hermann was five years old, he went to live with his beautiful mother and dignified father as well as his four brothers and sisters in the castle fortress of Burg Veldenstein in Nuremburg. The fortress dwelling with its gorgeous estate was owned by the Jewish Count von Epenstein, a personal friend of the family, after whom Hermann was named. Von Epenstein was a secret wooer of Hermann's mother, and though the novel indicates that the last baby in the family may have been his, it was Hermann whom the Count cherished most.
The ironies mount. When a schoolteacher called upon Hermann to write an essay about a German hero, Hermann chose to write about Count von Epenstein. Hermann was punished for having chosen a Jew by being forced to copy out the names of all the people in an almanac of titled German families of Jewish blood from A to E.
The reader doesn't have to read far to realize that Hermann Goring was not bred as a bigot, despite the presence of intolerant teachers. Indeed, the novel shows Hermann saving many Jews from persecution: it was maliciously joked by others, like the Propaganda Minister Goebbels, that the Jews always lined up at Goring's house.
Yet Hermann Goring was responsible for much death, most specifically in the massacre of mutinous German soldiers.
This book is addictive and it is impossible to put down once started. Leffland deserved the Pultizer prize for writing it. It is a masterpiece.

[H. R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leftland decided to write a novel on Herman Goring, learned German, virtually locked herself away for seven years. The result is a masterpiece of the novel as a non-fictional device, better than In Cold Blood. It's weakness is probably the staying power of the reader, you really need some background on German history to appreciate it.

[Johanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book about Herman Goring. It gave me such interesting insight into a man who was so evil and surrounded by such evil.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uncomfortable book. While the author does not excuse Goering's military and career actions, he portrays him as human, with a family, friends, dreams and hobbies. Goering was a vain egotistical man who believed he was above the law and the outcome justified the means. If he had stayed out of the military and had not had access to Germany's and Hitlers resources, he may have just been an art dealer and curator.

We all like to believe the bad guys are bad the whole way through with no redeeming features. But that's crap - they are human and unless they are certifiable psychopaths they are just like us. They just make really really bad decisions.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating glimpse at one of the leaders of the Third Reich, Sort of a renaissance man who courted Jewish actors and celebraties ???, yet sent countless Jews and others to their deaths. A man surely without a conscience...step into that insane world. A well worked biography by Ella Leffland.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent fictionalized biography of Herman Gooring. Anatomy of evil and leaves too few answers. But its true. Learned lots about NAZI history and life/war in Germany during WW2

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paperback, own

[Paul Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes fictional biographies ring more true than actual biographies.