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Judgement On Deltchev

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Having finished all of the Alan Furst novels, I wanted to read Eric Ambler, one of the creators of the Espionage Novel. Ambler began writing his spy novels in the 1930's and continued through the 1970's. Most of his early work was set in Europe as the dark shadow of facism was falling on the Continent.

Judgment on Deltchev was in written in 1949. With the end of the Second World War, Facism had been defeated and the new spectre of Communism was beginning to fall over Eastern Europe. This tale is set in an un-named Eastern European country shortly after the end of World War Two. The Communist Party has recently seized power and they are putting the respected leader of an opposition party on trial. With the backdrop of a political show trial, an underground stuggle is taking place to determine who will really run the country. It is into this highly charged atmosphere that Foster, an English journalist covering the political trial arrives.

Eric Ambler is a master stylist. His writing is economical and he effortly produces a story of complicated political intrigue. Ambler's writing is a great example of how less can be more. There are many contemporary writers producing espionage tales set during the Second World War and the years immediately following it. Ambler was the first master of this genre and he set a very high bar.

It's easy for a person to begin to confuse their subjective perceptions with reality. Do this long enough, and the person becomes convinced that anyone who disagrees with them is either perverse or stupid. Naturally, a successful person is more likely to fall into this trap. That syndrome is one that Eric Ambler deftly explores in Judgment on Deltchev in such an effective way that the book actually transcends the spy thriller genre into universality. This is one of my three favorite Eric Ambler novels. If you haven't read it yet, you're in for a major treat!

At the height of the Cold War, Foster, a London West End dramatist is invited to write a series of articles in what seems to be a political show trial of Yordan Deltchev behind the Iron Curtain. Deltchev had been a moderate leader in the revolution that brought the currrent government into power. The charges against him are assumed by Foster to respresent a final way to liquidate Deltchev's party, because Deltchev is accused of conspiring with the group that he had personally opposed. Like the protagonists in many of Eric Ambler's best novels, Foster is hopelessly naive and inexperienced for the challenges he is about to face. Only his good intentions can hope to save him . . . but too often his good intentions put him into dangerous situations. In the background are numbers of people who accommodate the current government in a variety of ways such as Georghi Pashik, the local press representative whom Foster relies on, and Sibley, the reporter.

As the trial develops, many unexpected events occur and Foster finds himself unpeeling the onion of a complex mystery concerning what the real agendas behind the trial are. In the process, he learns a lot about himself and human nature in general. He faces important ethical challenges, ones that will leave you wondering what you would have done in the same situation. As a result, you'll find yourself walking in Foster's steps and sharing his reality. It's a chilling trip.

One of several fascinating areas this book explores is the connection between whom we trust and whom we do not. Foster, like most, is attracted to those whose views he understands and approves of, those who are physically attractive, and those who he enjoys being with. Yet the information he receives that is helpful often comes from what would appear to be obviously untrustworthy or discredited sources. He gradually learns to cross-check his information, and digs to the bottom of many cross-currents of plots and subplots among the competing characters in the political tempest of a totalitarian regime. We can all learn a lot of good lessons from this story in overcoming out own shortsightedness about finding the truth.

Learn to appreciate the fragile and delicate beauty of truth . . . and how to seek it...

And who better to cover a Cold War, Soviet-bloc show trial for an American newspaper than a well-known British actor? That is the question posed to London-based actor, Foster, who accepts an assignment to write a series or articles about the show trial of Jordan Deltchev. Foster's adventures covering the trial form the basis of Eric Ambler's novel, "Judgment on Deltchev".

For those not familiar with his work, Ambler was to the modern British spy novel what Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett were to the American detective novel. Ambler transformed the spy novel from a simplistic black and white world of perfect good guys versus nefarious bad guys into a far more realistic world where sometimes the difference between good and evil is not all that great.

Typically, Ambler would take an unassuming, unsuspecting spectator and immerse him in a world of mystery and intrigue in pre and post-World War II Europe. The result was a series of highly entertaining and satisfying books that many believe set the stage for the likes of le Carre, Deighton, and, most recently, Alan Furst.

In Judgment on Deltchev, no sooner does the actor-turned- reporter Foster arrive at this unnamed Eastern bloc nation for the trial than he and is immediately caught in the swirl of intrigue surrounding it. Deltchev has been accused of being the mastermind behind a secret terror-society, "The Brotherhood"; plot to assassinate the `ruler', the nation's Stalin-like leader even though Deltchev himself had helped crush The Brotherhood in the not so distant past. Foster's first impression is that his local assistant is incompetent and that Deltchev is, of course, completely innocent. First impressions are often deceiving however and the more Foster learns the more he realizes how little he actually knows. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the trial and the plot unfolds like a mystery wrapped in an enigma. As the plot develops Foster meets Deltchev's wife and daughter, government/party functionaries, and other foreign reporters who may or may not be stool pigeons for the government.

As always, Ambler brings a keen eye for character detail and plot development to his stories. His characters seem realistic and far from the pure black and white world that predominated the genre before Ambler's arrival. It is also interesting to note that this was Ambler's first book written in his name after the close of World War II. In his previous books set during the 1930s he had a series of recurring Soviet characters that he always portrayed with a sympathetic eye. This no doubt reflected the view that both Britain and the USSR had more in common (a common enemy in Nazism) than differences. Judgment on Deltchev represents a Cold War change in focus. This change in focus reflected the times and was soon followed by Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.

Judgment on Deltchev was an excellent book; one of Ambler's finest in my opinion. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig

In the aftermath of WWII the Soviets tightened their grip on Eastern Europe. Outwardly legal processes were observed. Witnesses were summoned and evidence was presented before the leaders of opposition parties were condemned. Nikolai Petkov in Bulgaria was hung while Julius Maniu and Ion Mihalache in Romania were condemned to solitary confinement for life. In this historical context Eric Ambler produced his fictional novel Judgment on Deltchev (1951), a story of the trial of Yordan Deltchev.

Foster, a successful London playwright, accepted an unexpected job offer to attend the trial and write articles for an American newspaper publisher. Foster was not naïve. He expected to have difficulty properly covering Deltchev's sham trial. He rationalized that his inexperience might help him develop a fresh view.

Ambler has layers of surprises awaiting Foster. From the beginning Foster dislikes and mistrusts his employer's local representative, a disheveled, smelly man named Georghi Pashik. He is wary of other correspondents. And, of course, he totally disbelieves the government's information minister. He soon finds himself even questioning whether Deltchev the liberal is so innocent after all. We readers become unable to distinguish between the truth and carefully fabricated lies. In this convoluted, complicated plot Ambler illustrates the dangers of preconceived notions.

Graham Greene, Len Deighton, and John LeCarre all credit Eric Ambler for his influence on their writings. I highly recommend Judgment on Deltchev. It compares favorably with other Ambler novels like A Coffin for Dimitrios, Passage of Arms, and Journey into Fear. I have yet to encounter an Eric Ambler story that has disappointed me.

it is inexcusable: the publisher used spellcheck and in many places the main character's name is rendered as "Detached." For shame!

The intriguing narrative of Judgement on Deltchev unfolds almost entirely in an unnamed Balkan nation just a few short years after the end of WWII. Yordan Deltchev, once a national leader, has been accused of treason. The totalitarian regime has decided to stage a show trial complete with newsreel footage and a gaggle of foreign correspondents in attendance.
An American newspaper takes the unusual step of sending a British playwright named Foster to cover the trial. Foster has no journalistic experience but does have a well cultivated knowledge of things theatrical. Who better to report on a staged event?
No sooner does Foster arrive in the aforementioned Balkan state then he is confronted with conditions that offend his Western sensibilities. Strict censorship of outgoing correspondence, heavy handed police brutality, humiliating poverty and a pervasive sense that bullets not ballots are the preferred means of bringing about political change.
Despite his clear realization that the outcome of the trial is a foregone conclusion, Foster rather unwisely gets himself involved in an attempt at uncovering the facts behind Deltchev's horrific fall from grace. A series of unforeseen complications rapidly ensue. Foster finds himself in mortal danger and comes to sincerely wish he had never heard of either Deltchev or his God forsaken country.

In Judgement on Deltchev, Eric Ambler does a remarkable job in describing the dark, byzantine workings of a small Soviet satellite state in the early post war era. Few authors possess Ambler's acute touch when it comes to giving detailed accounts of the geopolitical underpinnings associated with world events. I have only one bone to pick with this otherwise very compelling novel. Towards the end, the plotting gets so complex that Ambler is forced to use page after page of uninterrupted exposition in order to get the reader to understand what is happening and why. Ideally, that degree of "explaining" should not be necessary. Despite that criticism, I highly recommend reading Judgement on Deltchev.

When you account the reduced list of best writers about the underworld of spies and hidden secrets in the WW2 , your selection should turn around three names : Graham Green , Eric Ambler and Artur Koestler , among the most remarkable , obviously .

The economic writing of Ambler is enough to translate us to the real stage of the War in the middle of the drama .

Deltchev reveals once more the sinister intrigue and nasty interests of the Status Q in that age.

Fascinating all the way .

This thriller by Eric Ambler, a master of the form, is an exciting story with the Moscow style show trials as a backdrop. Foster, the narrator, finds himself in disconcerting circumstances outside those of his previous experience, not unlike those encountered by the legion of Hitchcock protagonists. The more Foster tries to grasp the elusive truth in a totalitarian regime, the closer he draws to danger and possible death. This book is a great "spy genre" companion to "Darkness at Noon".

Over three novels, I have developed a great affection for Ambler's approach to espionage: an unwitting protagonist thrust into a world of intrigue where, and often to his own detriment, he seeks to sort out the mystery. It is a predictable style that should quickly become stale, but Ambler's multifaceted cast of characters and underlying themes keeps it fresh.

In the highly popular A Coffin for Dimitrios, the characters come together to unveil the lives of despicable men, some on the path to reform, others further along the road to ruin. In an Epitaph for a Spy, they unabashedly use each other for private gain. In Judgment on Deltchev, they are tortured by their own ideals, some in the pursuit of ambition, others in the reach of lofty virtues. Set in a country trapped between communism to the east and democracy to the west, the gravitational pull of overlapping conspiracies in a balkanized eastern Europe was too much to resist for me. Unlike the others, the depth of political intrigue in Deltchev is almost bottomless, the layers of allegiances impenetrable. Working together, these aspects make this tale all the more enjoyable, especially for those needing a brief distraction from the everyday.

Although this book is set in post-World War Two, Alan Furst's debt to Eric Ambler jumps off the page in Judgment on Deltchev. Ambler's protagonist is an amateur at the cloak-and-dagger game, a game that he never really intended to play. Foster (we never learn his first name) is a playwright sent by an American newspaper publisher to cover a show trial in an unnamed Eastern Bloc country. Deltchev, the former leader of the People's Party and the government, now stands accused of treachery, treason and conspiracy to assassinate the new leader.

Foster slowly allows himself to be drawn deeper and deeper into the behind the scenes machinations until he finds himself in very deep trouble indeed. His minder, Pashik, tries to keep him in check, but Foster only sees that as an effort to control what he writes. A former (?) British spy turned journalist lurks around the edges. Can he be trusted? Doubtful. Good old Pashik turns out to be a bit more complex than he first seems, but is he dangerous? Has the reactionary Officer Corps Brotherhood come back to life? At first convinced of Deltchev's innocence, Foster's doubts grow as the trial proceeds. Surely there must be *something* behind the outlandish charges.

In addition to spinning out a fascinating tale of intrigue, on the very first page Ambler lays out an excellent and concise explanation of the purpose and methods of the political show trial. "Where treason to the state is defined simply as opposition to the government in power, the political leader convicted of it will not necessarily lose credit with the people....[H]is death at the hands of a tyrannical government may serve to give his life a dignity it did not before possess....His trial, therefore, is no formality, but a ceremony of preparation and precaution. He must be discredited and destroyed as a man so that he may safely dealt with as a criminal."

Ambler also creates the feel of life under a dictatorship (returning to my thesis of Furst's debt to Ambler). Freedom of movement is constrained and access to information is tightly controlled. For Foster to meet with citizens is pregnant with risks. The triumvirate of life (food, booze, and tobacco) is scarce. (Women aren't exactly abundant either.) The place is gray and bland by day with dark corners and long shadows by night. Are you paranoid or are you really being followed? Or both?

Highest recommendation.