To the Devil
His Due by Paul Bernardi
Amazon UK £7.98 £3.64
Amazon US $4.66 $12.50
Amazon CA $16.48
Military
WWII
Reading To the Devil His Due, by Paul Bernardi,
was like going back in time to books I used to enjoy some years ago, and it was
fun to be reminded of that. The story is set in the Second World War, and uses
many of the appropriate tropes. Senior British officers are formal and
reserved, but highly talented and dedicated to carrying the conflict to the
enemy. Their juniors are keen, if rough and ragged round the edges. Schemes and
plans are daring, but risky, calling for considerable personal valour.
The plot of the
book, indeed, bears some loose similarity to Where Eagles Dare. It follows the exploits of a small elite team
carrying out commando style raids deep into Nazi Germany territory. There are
night parachute drops into the target zone, frequent guard patrols, a handy
tavern in sight of key locations, and a secretive approach to the target.
However, it is not at all a clone of that
book, but focuses the reader's attention on rather different issues. For one
thing, the build-up of the team training and early missions is told in much
more detail, giving a sense of the demands made of people in this branch of
military service. For another, we learn far more of the central character's
back-story and motivation for the fight. And finally, the considerable wartime
role of European nationals displaced by Nazi occupation is in the foreground,
rather than presenting a purely English and American response.
The book had
been well prepared and presented, though there were a few places where
descriptions of places or people were repeated in close proximity. Another
editing sweep would have caught these. Without wanting to give the plot away,
the biggest mental leap was when the perspective suddenly changes away from the
person we have followed throughout. This happens near to the end of the book,
and the reader is not given any opportunity to adjust to the change.
The story -
quite deliberately - ends with a question, which for me worked well. In
passing, and alongside the overt plot development, a number of moral and
pragmatic questions are raised concerning how war is waged. Paul has no intention
of solving these, but prefers leaving them for the reader to ponder.
All in all, an
interesting twist on the typical book of this kind. To the Devil His Due is narrow in focus, and sees the bigger issues
of war through the conflicted eyes of a single man. Given that, it is an
interesting and thoughtful addition to Second World War fiction.
© Richard
Abbott
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