An Officer and A Spy - Robert Harris - Book Review

                    Another back-to-back Robert Harris read and this time it was related to a real-time infamous scandal that rocked France and created doldrums at the time.

                    An officer with the French army, Alfred Dreyfus is convicted as a German spy who passed the nation's secrets to the Germans. Even though he claims to be innocent; he was subjected to disgrace before the nation and sentenced to solitary imprisonment at Devil's Island. General Picquart is recently promoted to the Chief of the Intelligence Department which handled all the investigations related to the Dreyfus affair. A few days into the office, Picquart realizes that there is much more to the story than what was told. What seemed like conviction now looks like a conspiracy and cover-up! What ensues is a single man's fight for justice to exonerate a wronged man by going against the army chiefs? Does he achieve the task? forms the story.

                    This was an extremely interesting read for me. I am reading about such a scandal for the first time. This does make me realize that how much ever you read, there is always something that history has in surprise for us. It is not possible for me to put this under the fiction or non-fiction genre. Robert Harris has mixed all the facts with fiction and told the book that he has presented all the facts truly but in his own way. It really amazed me as to how much research would have gone into this book. All the characters have well-defined roles and they reflected the cultural and political scenario of the France. The way how Picquart decides to stand against any one to correct the wrong dong was very good. I was aware of the Jew-hating nature of the Nazis. But it was shocking to see how Jews were hated pretty much in many places. An absolute page-turner. It was around 600 pages too long but I was able to maintain the pace and interest largely due to the narrative style. Pointing out the right facts in fiction seems to be what Robert Harris excels in. 

                    In short, a good and compelling read making me fall more in love with the genre. History does teach us many things. It is just that we have to remember them. But, are we!