Hanns Alexander escaped Berlin in the early 30s to England, served in WWII, and afterward served Britain's War Crimes Group as an investigator. In this role, he tracked and captured Rudolf Hoess, Auschwitz' Kommandant, who oversaw the murder of some 3 million people, most of them Jews. Hoess is not to be confused with Rudolf Hess, Hitler's Deputy Fuhrer.
Harding is Hanns' great-nephew, and he has put together a highly satisfying piece of storytelling. In alternating chapters, he tells the story of the two men's lives from infancy forward. The book jacket states that he is a former documentary filmmaker, and the skills of that trade are obvious here: the book is informative and well-researched, but Harding keeps his focus on the reader's experience, and moves the story at an expert pace. Hoess' capture and trial are suspenseful, and the details of Hanns' emigration interesting, but it is Harding's style in writing Hoess' story that shines. He has a calm, almost modest tone as he describes the life of a seemingly ordinary German boy once destined for the Church, who later became a loving husband, father, and mass-murderer.
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