Family of Spies; A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor
Title of the book: Family of Spies; A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor Author: Christine Kuehn
Publisher: Celadon
Publishing Date: 2025
ISBN:978-1-250-34446-5
Summary:
A propulsive, never-before-told story of one family's shocking involvement as Nazi and Japanese spies during WWII and the pivotal role they played in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
It began with a call from a screenwriter, asking about a story. Your family. World War II. Nazi spies. Christine Kuehn was shocked and confused. When she asked her seventy-year-old father, Eberhard, what this could possibly be about, he stalled, deflected, demurred, and then wept. He knew this day would come.
The Kuehns, a prominent Berlin family, saw the rise of the Nazis as a way out of the hard times that had befallen them. When the daughter of the family, Eberhard's sister, Ruth, met Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels at a party, the two hit it off, and they had an affair. But Ruth had a secret--she was half Jewish--and Goebbels found out. Rather than having Ruth killed, Goebbels instead sent the entire Kuehn family to Hawaii, to work as spies half a world away. There, Ruth and her parents established an intricate spy operation from their home, just a few miles down the road from Pearl Harbor, shielding Eberhard from the truth. They passed secrets to the Japanese, leading to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. After Eberhard's father was arrested and tried for his involvement in planning the assault, Eberhard learned the harsh truth about his family and faced a decision that would change the path of the Kuehn family forever.
Jumping back and forth between Christine discovering her family's secret and the untold past of the spies in Germany, Japan, and Hawaii, Family of Spies is fast-paced history at its finest and will rewrite the narrative of December 7, 1941.
(From goodreads)
Personal Opinion:
First of all, truth is stranger than fiction and second of all, I couldn't be the only one who wanted to fill out the blanks and flesh out the details because seriously, this memoir of sorts could make for a great historical fiction or else an unpredictable Hollywood movie. In other words, yes I enjoyed reading it, and really wanted there to be more to the story than just what the author wrote. I definitely don't want to spoil the story, but would highly recommend in reading it, especially in seeing another darker side of Germany being involved with Pearl Harbor bombing. There are tons of information that I wasn't aware nor familiar with. Quite often I think WWII afficionados take for granted that Japan managed to pull it off by themselves or out of the blue. But FAMILY OF SPIES puts humans behind the scenes as well as their motivations for helping Japan in pulling off Pearl Harbor. Fun fact, I asked my military obsessed nine year old son about the airplane picture on the cover, he believes its Curtiss P40 Warhawk. Let me know if he got it right please!
This was given for review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
First of all, truth is stranger than fiction and second of all, I couldn't be the only one who wanted to fill out the blanks and flesh out the details because seriously, this memoir of sorts could make for a great historical fiction or else an unpredictable Hollywood movie. In other words, yes I enjoyed reading it, and really wanted there to be more to the story than just what the author wrote. I definitely don't want to spoil the story, but would highly recommend in reading it, especially in seeing another darker side of Germany being involved with Pearl Harbor bombing. There are tons of information that I wasn't aware nor familiar with. Quite often I think WWII afficionados take for granted that Japan managed to pull it off by themselves or out of the blue. But FAMILY OF SPIES puts humans behind the scenes as well as their motivations for helping Japan in pulling off Pearl Harbor. Fun fact, I asked my military obsessed nine year old son about the airplane picture on the cover, he believes its Curtiss P40 Warhawk. Let me know if he got it right please!
This was given for review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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