HHhH

Per Laurent Binet (in the text of the novel, no less!), HHhH was not his preferred title. ". . .I never thought of giving it any other title than Operation Anthropoid (and if that's not the title you see on the cover you will know that I gave in to the demands of my publisher, who didn't like it: too SF, too Robert Ludlum, apparently)." Ostensibly, it's the story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by Czech and Slovak resistance fighters. More accurately, it's the story of Binet researching, contemplating, and writing that story.

In this part of the review, I will explain who Reinhard Heydrich was, and why the Czechs wanted to kill him (well, they wanted to kill him because he was a Nazi, but there were many Nazis in the country at the time). I was dimly aware of Heydrich prior to reading this novel; this of course speaks not to Heydrich's obscurity, but to my appalling ignorance of the players in the Nazi regime. Anyway, Reinhard Heydrich, was at the time of his assassination Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia (effectively military dictator, as the man he had replaced was sent on leave, due to what Hitler felt was a soft approach). Obviously, the Czechs and the Slovaks were less than thrilled about this. As if this wasn't bad enough, Heydrich was also in chief of an intelligence/counterintelligence organization (the SD), as well as the Gestapo. He had a significant hand in the Holocaust, as well. Overall, Heydrich just wasn't a nice guy.

HHhH (which takes its name from a contemporary German witticism meaning "Himmler's brain is called Heydrich") begins with Binet apologizing for fictionalizing a true story, and continues in that vein. Binet intersperses facts with speculation with commentary on Heydrich's place in the Nazi hierarchy, the background of Operation Anthropoid, the situation in Prague, and general World War II-era history. It's a quick, easy, and interesting read, one that I would recommend.