Europe is in turmoil. The Nazis have marched into the Rhineland. In Russia, Stalin has unleashed his Great Terror. Spain has erupted in civil war.In Berlin, a young Englishwoman evades the Gestapo to deliver vital papers to a Jewish scientist. Within weeks, she is found dead, a silver syringe clutched in her fingers. The reason for this is that a rumour is going around that the Nazi machine is still operational in England with at its centre a man called, Sir Neville Catesby, who acts as the "English Führer", and who's accompanied by several associates of like mind, but who will later on turn into someone and something else entirely, and that all in an effort to put the blame on Fascism. The mystery of Nancy's death stays at the centre of the book, as the story branches out with other murders and subterfuges. It's not the 'peace' Tom imagined. Many British Fascist and Nazi sympathisers have been released from internment at the close of the war, and Oswald Mosley is still around (I had no idea what became of him after the 1930s).

The Nazis are still active and have invaded Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, the Jews are being persecuted so absolutely in Germany that parents are sending their kids to Britain on the Kindertransport to be safe. Meanwhile, the IRA’s S-plan bombing campaign has led to over a hundred terrorist outrages around England. Are you ready for an unbiased, impartial and unprejudiced review then sorry, I have to first of all say that I am a great fan of Rory Clement’s and I have either read or listened to all the previous Tom Wilde series of novels so my review will be that of a fan but also an honest appraisal.There have already been some ‘pandemic novels’ and I’m sure there will be many more. Clements gives the merest nod to the pandemic here by having a biological weapon brought to England in the autumn of 1945. The actions taken to contain the threat are all too familiar to us now yet don’t feel anachronistic. I had nearly finished reading when I was sent a link to the audiobook; I might give it a try while I wait for another welcome return to Wilde and Cambridge. I enjoyed all of it – the somewhat predictable plot, the amazing coincidences, the chase across Germany and the Baltic, the doubtful characters, as well as all the twists and turns and seemingly impossible situations that they encounter. It’s fast paced, full of action, danger, violence and double-cross – a most satisfying and compelling thriller. The ending in England is also intriguing, full of heart stopping moments in scenes that had my head whirling. Needless to say really, but I was gripped by this book and I just had to find out what happened. I think the last final twist about Hitler’s secret was very well done. What’s the deal with Mrs Sylvia Keane (the Wilde’s housekeeper)? Doris the Wilde’s cleaning lady, doesn’t like her. Even though the Queen is enjoying the courtship of the earl, Shakespeare knows better. On top of that, his mother might be more of a threat than he previously thought. Shakespeare only has Boltfoot Cooper by his side, his footsoldier who is loyal to him no matter what. That is somewhat of a comfort in this situation, but the two may be up against forces greater than they may have thought. More than that, the people that are out there may just think that they alone are above the law and kill and do whatever they like without having any second thoughts or stopping themselves.

I was surprised to see it’s the best part of a year since I read the last book by Rory Clements. I think it’s a mark of good writing and characterisation that I found it so easy to reacquaint myself with 1940s Cambridge and Tom Wilde. He’s intelligent but fallible; much more fun than an invincible hero who’s always a step ahead. I really like Clements’ portrait of Cambridgeshire; I could almost feel the fog coming in off the coast and the damp of the fens. Meanwhile, Wilde's name is discovered on a Gestapo hit list. As the death toll rises, an unthinkable question emerges: could an Englishman be behind the plot? As Rory Clements observes in his afterword to the book, ‘It is a world exhausted by war, desperate for peace – and extremely vulnerable because few have any appetite for further conflict’. This is the foundation upon which the author builds the compelling story at the heart of the book. It involves some extremely nasty goings-on, sadly based on fact. It is autumn 1945 and Cambridge history professor Tom Wilde, American citizen, has returned to his daytime job. The war is over. Or is it. ‘The English Führer,’ seventh in the Tom Wilde spy series by Rory Clements, hits the ground running as a Japanese submarine waits off the coast of Norfolk. Storytelling is of an excellent quality, the atmosphere of post-wartime England in the Autumn of 1945 is wonderfully described and pictured by the author, and all figures are very believable and lifelike in their dealings with life in general, danger, political intrigue and death.

Publication Order of Tom Wilde Books

I’m pleased that Wilde’s story has carried on beyond the summer of 1945. I find this a fascinating period and one ripe for fiction. The war may have been over but not its fallout: there were still shortages affecting almost everyone; tensions didn’t just evaporate so people were suspicious of unfamiliar faces. It seems inevitable that there were people on the losing side whose beliefs did not change and that some of them started (or continued) planning their next steps once the fighting had ceased. Here, the players are in plain sight but nearly everyone has something to hide and there are plenty of red herrings. We also get a glimpse of the Cambridge-based Russian spies who would be uncovered in the years to follow. Professor Tom Wilde wants to return to a normal life. To his professorship at Cambridge, to his wife and child, to the book he wants to write. But somehow it seems the world isn't quite ready for him to retire to normality, and he is thrown into a plot that could change the course of England's future, and the world's as well. I didn’t realise that The English Fuhrer is the seventh instalment of Rory Clements’s Tom Wilde series of books. I hadn’t read the previous books but I don’t think it’s a barrier as this book stands alone. Yes, yes, yes. Exactly right. This is what history teaches you. Work hard for your opinions, search, evaluate, criticise, look for more, ask who benefits, challenge every assumption. Do this every day. Not just what people are telling you, but WHY. Look beyond what you are given, seek what is being hidden. This is a historical thriller set in 1936 as tumultuous political events take place in Europe prior to the second world war. In Berlin, Nancy helps a Jewish physicist only for her to apparently die of an accidental drug overdose in Cambridge a few weeks later. Three high level establishment figures meet and trigger a set of events aimed at changing the political landscape of Britain. We have the constitutional crisis with a King who looks on the Nazis in a favourable light and is intent on marrying the American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson. The battles between left and right are fought intensely in Cambridge and within the colleges.

Word Phenol - heard the word twice - connection. It was used to kills the crippled and blind authorised by doctors. Just when Tom believes he’s achieved his mission troubles – and further danger – await closer to home, sometimes from the most unlikely of sources. Plus he’s faced with a moral dilemma made more difficult by his own position as a new father. Is, as the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war? You’d better come to see this lieutenant colonel. I really don’t think it’s wise for me to touch it.” Unfortunately, it looks as though the queen is not totally opposed to the advances of the ambitious earl. In fact, the Queen seems to be fairly flattered by his overtures and attempts to win her over. This is also surprising because his mother is Lettice Knollys. Gorgeous and dangerous at the same time, Lettice presides over her own court. Maybe it’s a strange court of people, but they should not be taken lightly.

From the beginning this had the feel that you get from an accomplished author. The setting is England just prior to the second World War and I soon appreciated the amount of time that must have gone into discovering details about both the major and minor politicians and the detaile of that period in our history.