Stephen Harding (1) (1952–)

I'm surprised to see the overall low rating this book receives, but I guess some readers were expecting a long drawn-out description of the actual battle for Schloss Itter rather than a long prologue introducing all the characters. The actual battle didn't take too long, though it must have been an eternity for those trapped inside by the encircling Nazi forces. And, of course, there is a long epilogue telling us what became of everyone, as there should be. The lasting impressions this book show more leaves me is of a group of men who put their own lives at risk to do what needed to be done, and I'm happy their story has been told so well in English for the first time. The audiobook is very well read, and I highly recommend it. (Perhaps some of those who found themselves bored might benefit from trying this version!) show less

3.5 stars

There is a castle in Austria called Schloss Itter. During WWII, there were French VIPs (mostly politicians) who were kept prisoner in Schloss Itter; needless to say, it was a fairly comfortable place to be kept prisoner during the war. When the war was over, though, they needed to be rescued. So, after the war had officially ended, American soldiers came together with a few German soldiers to get the French VIPs out, but there was a battle at the castle before they were able to show more leave.

This is a story from WWII that I knew nothing about. (Even for all I’ve read, I’m sure there are plenty of lesser-known stories.) It was interesting. In addition to information about the war, the castle, and the battle itself at the castle, there was biographical information about the prisoners, as well as the soldiers who worked together to help out (although, there were a lot of people, so it was still a bit tricky to recall who was who!). I also enjoy biographies, so those parts were some of the most interesting to me in this book, in addition to the battle itself. As a Canadian, I found Rene Levesque’s “cameo” in the book (he appeared later as a journalist) interesting. For the most part, I liked the way this book was written. There were a few dry parts, but mostly I enjoyed it. show less

A well-told story of an astonishingly under-recognized real battle at the extreme end of World War II. The only battle in World War II where American GIs and the German Wehrmacht fought on the same side, it also featured a desperate defense against dead-ender SS soldiers of a medieval castle — and the squabbling French VIP prisoners it contained. Containing a detailed description of the battle and good biographical portraits of all the important characters, you'll be unsurprised to learn show more that it's in the process of being adapted into a Hollywood movie. show less

While the story of the rescue of French captive VIPs at the very end of the war in Austria is an inherently interesting topic, there is rather less to this book than it looks. Possibly inevitably, the battle itself was a short-lived affair as what was basically a reinforced squad worth of men barely staved off the Waffen-SS company sent to execute the Frenchmen when rescue arrived just in time (no thanks to American jurisdictional conflict). What you're really left with is the deep show more background for the possible movie. show less