The Story of Henri Tod [Large Print] [Hardcover]

William F. Buckley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1984

President John F. Kennedy has been in office less than a year, and the Berlin Wall is about to slam shut the last escape route out of Communist Eastern Europe. Uncertain about the Soviets' intentions, Kennedy sends Blackford Oakes into the chaos of East Berlin to plumb the depths of the crisis. Oakes's contact is Henri Tod, leader of a group of German dissidents who has a price on his head and an ingenious plan that might just save the West from Eastern Bloc domination. When Tod mysteriously vanishes, Oakes locks horns with the ultimate opponent, East Germany's unscrupulous party boss Walter Ulbricht, in a story created by William F. Buckley Jr., one of the foremost political thinkers and master storytellers of our time. Who will win this cloak-and-dagger chess game?

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published in 1982 and 1984, respectively, these are two of Buckley's popular Blackie Oakes spy thrillers. They feature the usual U.S./Soviet Cold War cloak-and-dagger action and provide "flawless entertainment" (LJ 3/1/84).
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

6 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 397 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (May 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896215377
• ISBN-13: 978-0896215375
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,879,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, December 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Story of Henri Tod (Blackford Oakes Novel) (Paperback)

This is the fifth of Buckley's spy novels that I've read, and the best so far. By weaving together fiction and history, he brings alive the Cold War era. The prose is uniquely Buckleyan, by turns witty, moving, and heart-racing. I recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pithy as usual...Great Oakes Installment, December 16, 2002

By 

Dean and Lisa Reid (Dover, DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story Of Henri Tod (Audio Cassette)

Not the best Oakes novel but pretty darn close. Buckley's intrepid hero must survive the Kennedy administration (there's a challenge for Buckley's alter ego!). The author squanders a bit of his considerable wit on the oval office's occupants...his contempt for camelot drips off the pages. Still, the story of Tod is absorbing and compelling.

Henri Tod is a German Jew who survives the Death Camps and becomes Germany's leading Freedom fighter. His sister survives in the Soviet Union and becomes a pawn in an East Block effort to secure Tod's capture. Thrown into this mix is a curious East German duo that stow away in a relic German railcar and play crucial roles in the tableau. And, of course there's Blackford Oakes. Oakes's mission is to infiltrate the Bruderschaft (Tod's organization) in an effort to learn of its intentions. All this occurs, of course, during the days leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall.

As with most Oakes installments, the action is scarce and the wit is everywhere. The story unfolds at a pedestrian pace...and that's OK. Buckley's authority on the period is unquestionable. Most of the subplots are attended to nicely. And the author does a fine job of placing his protagonist in a position where his choices would have significant consequences for world events.

Delicious fare, highly recommended.

3.0 out of 5 stars passable, February 28, 2007

By 

Does Not Matter (MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story Of Henri Tod (Audio Cassette)

It is generally OK. There is and intrigue and there is some value of historic reconstruction. There were a couple of shocking moments, one of them is having a few beers in preparation for a gunfight.