Before setting out on his war of conquest, the Fuhrer laid down his rules to his erstwhile ally. Whichever land II Duce defeated was Italy's alone. The lands Adolf took were solely Germany's. Albania fell and Italy took full possession. It also got the small piece of southern France it took while the Third Reich got the rest.
Feeling heady, Mussolini reached out for Greece. Big mistake. His modern day legions were sent scurrying, their tails beneath their legs. Hitler pulled his chestnuts out of the fire and carried out their own invasion.
Although assisted by the British, the swastika soon flew over Athens.
Conquerors are by nature oppressive, the Germans more than most. A patriotic people throughout history, the Greeks refused to let matters be. Partisan bands sprang up. Killing and sabotaging the hated occupation forces. The SS retaliated by murdering hostages and destroying villages.
In his historical novel Hearts Of Stone, British author Simon Scarrow focuses on this aspect of World War II. The heavily researched story is mainly factual, embellished by likely imaginative additions. The plot kicks off in 1938 with a German-led archaeological dig on one of the isles.
The continent is still at peace, the only conflict at the dig is among the students. A German boy and a Greek boy like the same Greek girl. Eleni appears to favour the German. Alas, Berlin orders their people home. War follows. The Wehrmacht wins and the students join or form partisan bands.
Hundreds of pages are devoted to it, not least to the bands vying with one another for the arms the British are secretly sending by submarine. The main weapon of the Nazis is stealing the crops and starving the people. When the war ultimately ends, Eleni marries the Greek suitor.
Their offspring settle in the UK. The war years are told in flashbacks as their descendants look up elderly survivors and existing photographs.
Scarrow throws in an ancient tomb harking back to the Trojan War -- Ulysses?
His past books are both about Ancient Rome and the Napoleonic Wars. If you're interested in historical fiction, almost entirely true, Simon Scarrow is the writer to beat.
Hidden Killers By Lynda La Plante Simon And Schuster 500ppAvailable at Asia Books and leading bookshops 325 baht
Suspense mistress
Truth be told, I was introduced to literature by screen adaptations. Viewing the movie in the comfort of a theatre for a few hours was similar to spending days reading it at home. Admittedly I didn't remember the name of the author -- who did write Gone With The Wind? But who can forget the stars Clack Gable and Vivien Leigh?
And directors. Steven Spielberg for Jaws. Who wrote the book? Still, there's a drawback. Scriptwriters have the audacity to "improve" on the original. They subtract and add characters. Even change endings. Why kill off the star when he or she can walk into the sunset with the co-star?
Which leads up to my saying that I first became familiar with literary sleuths in the cinema. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Humphrey Bogart was Sam Spade. Ralph Bellamy was Ellery Queen. Helen Mirren was Jane Tennyson. Apart from Mirren they are all gone now, their replacements not living up to them.
I acquired the whole Jane Tennyson series, ending with her going as far as she could in London's CID -- Chief Inspector. Prolific British author Lynda La Plante still writes about her-reminisces. Hidden Killers is a case in point. It's set in the mid-1970s with ambitious Jane's first promotion. She's a probationary Detective Constable in the CID.
What La Plante never lets the reader forget is that the force discriminates against women, believing they aren't up to the rigours of the job. Jane has to work twice as hard to prove herself. In doing so she breaks more than a few rules. Her superiors are reluctant to overlook her unauthorised initiatives, even when they have positive results.
This time her instincts tell her that the woman drowned in her bathtub was murdered, then proceeds to investigate on her own. Sidestepping the booby traps her colleagues set for her, her suspicions are on the mark. Both reprimanded and praised she passes probation. This reviewer has long since found books more satisfying than movies, though I still have a warm spot for Helen Mirren.
The popular scrivener has come up with two additional literary creations, both also women cops. Anna Travis and Lorraine Paget in separate series. Whether they catch on as Jane Tennyson remains to be seen.
