Customer Reviews

Blood and Fire: The Duke of Windsor and the strange murder of Sir Harry Oakes. (h/c)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have now read this book twice. The author uses a remarkable mastery of the English language to transform what could have been merely a systematic documentation of historic events into an enthralling, mysterious and beautifully written piece of literature. The book is truly addictive, and the author truly talented. The gorgeous language used is so finely implemented that it feeds the senses as well as the mind, and is completely absorbing. I am so deeply shocked at the one-star review below that I can only assume it was a personal attack upon Mr Marquis - it could be nothing else. The fact that 'Honest Abe' refers to the book as a novel shows either his neglect to read it, or his misunderstanding of the word "novel". The time-limit that was placed upon Mr Marquis while writing the book only serves to reiterate the seemingly unlimited talent that the man possesses.

Blood and Fire by John Marquis is an excellent read. I found I couldn't put the book down after I started it. The mix of murder and royalty is irresistable.

Well, what can I say. I didn't know much, if anything, about the 'Murder of the century' before a friend directed me towards this book. It is, without a doubt, on of the best books I've ever read. Not just for the compelling contents, which as other reviewers have stated, is impossible to put down, but especially for the sheer quality of the writing itself. John Marquis has brought the talents he has perfected over the years as a journalist, I discovered, and has bowled over all of the critics and undoubtley the general public too. Honest Abe disagrees, as his one star rating review explains. Is this a critique, or a personal attack? Is it rational? Not at all. Is it representative of the text in question? Hardly. Has Honest Abe ever honestly read the book? Unlikely.

Well-written and compelling. Marquis captures the mood of early Nassau and marshals his facts well as he re-tells the story of the murder of the century. Marquis offers disturbing insights into the murder of Sir Harry Oakes, fearlessly exploring the unusual response of the Duke of Windsor, then Governor of the Bahamas, and the other key players. I did not want to put this book down.

John Marquis is a terrific writer----and hits a lot of nails on the head in writing not only about the world famous (during WW II) Oakes Murder---but about the muddled, miserable efforts, of the then Governor of the Bahamas, the Duke of Windsor----to direct the investigation and charge against an inocent man---he detested, the Oakes son-in-law Count de Marnigy. I have read all the books including "The Duke of Windsor's War (with a chapter on the Oakes murdert) and this is---far away---the best of the lot. Marquis's description of events is "right on".

Author John Marquis leaves no stone unturned in his forensic investigation into the murder of the richest man in the British Empire.
So atmospheric are John Marquis's descriptions of downtown Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, that we almost feel like mopping our brows in the steamy heat as we watch him probe a sensational killing in 1943.
Mercilessly he lays open the part played in the shadowy events by the islands' governor, the late Duke of Windsor.
And with recently-acquired information, this book takes us as close as anyone has come to unravelling one of the murder mysteries of the century.
Fascinating, absorbing and quite possibly worrying for several people.

I received this book as a Christmas present and could not put it down. It is an excellent read and i highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed.

Those looking for an answer will be disappointed. While a new avenue of enquiry is presented as a teaser, restrained by a journalistic confidence, no new evidence is presented. Some may find the author's strong opinions distracting, but what he does is present a good wrap of all the known theories surrounding the murder. Most accounts concentrate solely on the period of the crime, but this one includes a useful history of subsequent related activities in the Bahamas. A section of photographs is marred by questionable selection and poor reproduction.

American reviewer Art Paine rated this the best written of seven or eight Oakes books published to date. He also said it was as plausible as any.
The author's theories about the Duke of Windsor's involvement in the cover-up of this famous murder are very well-argued, according to most newspaper critics who reviewed it on its launch.
Best comment of all came from the relative of a 90-year-old partially blind man who read the book from beginning to end with his magnifying glass. 'We couldn't get him away from the book,' he said. You don't get many testimonials better than that!

This book is an account of the sensational murder of North American millionaire Harry Oakes in 1943, and the subsequent framing, trial, and acquittal of his son-in-law. I thought this would be a fascinating book, but the author has a weak, erratic style, and I found it all frustrating and long-winded. Even the author's theories of the true perpetrator were a bit vague. The book does give insights into Nassau's old servile colonial character, now happily long gone, and tantalizes with well-founded suspicions about the Governor of the Bahamas -- the Duke of Windsor -- a truly outrageously misguided and weak individual.