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Tom Wilde is a professor (was a spy), in Cambridge. Rupert Weir is his old friend, he’s a police surgeon and wants to talk to Tom about his case. I felt that Clements did well in portraying postwar Britain including the collective sense of loss and the need to rebuild a shattered economy. Such details of everyday life enrich the narrative beyond the drama of its main plot. The emphasis on the nations being swept up in a fury of righteous politics rang particularly true for what is going on here and now. Distrust is breeding; and morals bent or completely broken, for the greater good. Though in the past I haven't read many spy novels, this book has certainly set an incredibly high bar for what I would expect and want from the in the future going forward. Clements ability to cause the reader to feel the same tension that Wilde must be feeling is fantastic, you're constantly on the edge of your seat, not wanting to put the book down just so you can see what is going to happen next. The other characters range from American spies, British diplomats, a wealthy British man who has interests in the Third Reich, local friends of Tom and his partner Lydia and so on. There is a real range of characters here and they all fit their roles perfectly.
As Rory Clements observes in his afterword to the book, ‘It is a world exhausted by war, desperate for peace – and extremely vulnerable because few have any appetite for further conflict’. This is the foundation upon which the author builds the compelling story at the heart of the book. It involves some extremely nasty goings-on, sadly based on fact. The story has been well researched and is full of many characters, some who actually existed and some who have been invented. These are so well interwoven into the plot that it is difficult to work out who is actually a real historical figure!
Tom Wilde Books In Publication Order
The reason for this is that a rumour is going around that the Nazi machine is still operational in England with at its centre a man called, Sir Neville Catesby, who acts as the "English Führer", and who's accompanied by several associates of like mind, but who will later on turn into someone and something else entirely, and that all in an effort to put the blame on Fascism. A young English lady works in Berlin to get important papers to a Jewish scientist, evading the Gestapo to do it. But just a few weeks later, she is discovered dead with a silver syringe in her hands. Then in an exclusive club in London, a conspiracy takes off that could threaten the very center of government. As previously, Wilde must work out who to trust, treading a fine line between wrong and right, to get to the heart of the truth. What is a Japanese biological weapon doing in England and who are the plotters? Japanese. Fascists. Communists. The clues are myriad and the web woven by Clements is at times impenetrable, the story telling is compelling. Argue with me!' Wilde insisted. 'Make me prove my points, demand evidence, get as near the truth as you can. Re-examine everything you have ever been told and make your own mind up on the evidence you can find. And if there is not enough evidence, then keep an open mind. Become a detective- because if you don't, you'll never become a historian.' Lydia and Miranda fought for their lives when an assassin comes to murder Lydia at her hostel, pretending to be her “husband”. He gets away leaving the syringe. Lydia’s disguise is blown.
June 1939. England is partying like there's no tomorrow . . . but the good times won't last. The Nazis have invaded Czechoslovakia, in Germany Jewish persecution is widespread and, closer to home, the IRA has embarked on a bombing campaign. In historical research, this is an exciting prospect. In real life, essential. People have often asked me what application studying history has in real life. It is this: critical evaluation. History is about people, human behaviour, and decision making. Studying history is about sources and argument and lies and truths and informed guesswork. And I use it everyday.
OK so before I get to writing about the book, I have to compliment the author for giving his main character, the Cambridge Professor Thomas Wilde, the perfect speech to explain why I love history. I must admit that I have been a fan of this series from the first book and whilst this is the fourth in the series it can easily be read as a stand-alone, it is a series that goes from strength to strength. Thomas Wilde is an American, and a History professor at Cambridge. He's focused on his students reaching their full potential, by questioning everything they come across. And he is determined not to let himself be swayed by any of the propaganda and the increasingly impassioned and volatile politics. This was hard work. When a publisher advertises a novel 'for fans of Robert Harris' I expect more. Harris is a master at taking historical events, building believable characters, bringing dialogue to life and creating real suspense - even when the reader knows the outcome. Rory Clements doesn't. It’s fall 1945 and the British are adjusting to the postwar world. The end of the war didn’t result in the lifting of many wartime laws. Food, clothing and gasoline were still rationed and a lot of rationing wasn’t lifted til the 1950’s. Wilde has returned to his Cambridge work and family, but strange things start to happen to his friends and family. A strange submarine is sighted off the coast not far from Cambridge and people start dying from diseases like the plague. Who’s involved in the murderous plot? Is there even a plot? At this point, I felt like I was fielding incoming as the book’s plot and the characters were bombarding me. There were few characters who were who they claimed and almost everyone wanted to murder everyone else.
Regardless, Rory thinks that his personal history has given him a good understanding not only of valor but of the stoicism of those who are in danger, whether it is from enemy agents sin the sea, air, or on the battlefield. He says that these are the qualities of the protagonist of the Tom Wilde series, none other than Tom Wilde. The Cambridge history professor might spend a good portion of his life absorbed in the dusty archives or teaching students in the lecture hall, but when he is called upon to act, he does without hesitation or questioning it. To my mind, it’s always cause for celebration when a new book by Rory Clements is published, especially when it’s an addition to his terrific spy thriller series set in World War 2 and featuring Cambridge history professor, Tom Wilde.A decent spy thriller centred on a plot concerning the abdication of King Edward VIII who proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Edward and Wallis were admirers of Hitler and this story revolves around a Nazi plot to ensure Edward continues as king. As the bodies mount, a few red herrings in the form of an alleged Communist uprising in Britain and murders blamed on Commie assassins. Meanwhile people in Britain's high places move to cement their power and prevent the abdication plan engineered by British Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. The time is 1936, and Europe is in the middle of a period of great turmoil. The Nazis have finally made their way into the Rhineland. Stalin has unleashed his Great Terror in Russia. Meanwhile, Spain has broken out into civil war.
I had previously enjoyed a book from the John Shakespeare series set in the court of Elizabeth I and when my wife mentioned the author in connection with this other series, I was interested. I reread enough of my old notes to realise that I had liked the author and had been impressed by his research and style of writing. We sourced the new series of which this is the first. Corpus is a remarkable chronicle of the treacherous game of poisoned politics, teasing the moves from its players with considerable skill to result in a thoroughly exhilarating fusion of espionage, intrigue and murder. You’d better come to see this lieutenant colonel. I really don’t think it’s wise for me to touch it.” Rory Clements has created an intriguing character in the form of Tom Wilde. At first appearance he is a professor at Cambridge and not someone you would think capable of a secret spy mission right into the heart of Germany during the Second World War. However, Clements slowly unveils layer after layer of Tom.
What is the Tom Wilde series about?
The Man in the Bunker (2022) – 1945: A few days before the end of the war in Europe it is reported that Adolf Hitler and his bride Eva Braun have committed suicide in the Berlin bunker. But no body is ever found and many people – including Soviet leader Stalin – believe the Führer is alive and hiding out, probably protected by diehard Nazis. Cambridge professor Tom Wilde, working as an agent for Allied intelligence, is sent into the ruins of Germany to interrogate those who knew Hitler best. Following a trail of blood and deceit, he realizes that there are fanatics who will murder and murder again to prevent him from discovering the truth. A huge event goes unreported at the same time. Otto Hahn in Germany has made the first man-created fission and now the possibility of an atomic device coming to fruition is very likely. The Nazis have set their own physicist group up to build their own superbomb, aware that the Americans and the British are doing the same.
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