Book Review: Night of the Assassins by Howard Blum

“… Night of the Assassins is a suspenseful true-life tale about an impossible mission, a ticking clock, and one man who stepped up to the challenge and prevented a world catastrophe.”

Goodreads blurb for Night of the Assassins

Review:

A couple of years ago, I read Brad Meltzer’s book The Nazi Conspiracy, which also explores this topic. I must have purchased this book shortly after reading that and I was reminded of it when scrolling through my audiobook library. As much as I enjoyed that book, I felt that this one delved much deeper, granted, with more speculation added. 

In 1943, the Allied leaders, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, agreed to meet for the first time. This historical meeting was a perfect opportunity for an Axis attack. Plans were made, but as we know, the three leaders returned from Tehran alive. This book goes through what planning for ‘Operation Long Jump’ might have looked like. 

As I said, I liked the deeper look into the assassination plot. However, it did often cross over into a feeling of fiction more than fact. With so much information lost, I struggled to discern the validity of the information in places. It certainly captured the atmosphere well, and it was engaging in the novel structure, but I almost always prefer solid facts with speculation clearly defined. Nevertheless, quite an interesting read. 

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• Such a fascinating, not often discussed moment of World War II.
• Solid and engaging writing.
• Delves deep.

What I didn’t like:

• Difficult to discern what’s fact and what’s embellished.

Afterthoughts:

When starting this, I felt it would feel repetitive having read The Nazi Conspiracy, but both books had different tones and nuances.

Where to buy the book: