In Time of War: Hitler’s Terrorist Attack on America [Audio CD]

Pierce O’Donnell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0786167483 | ISBN-13: 978-0786167487 | Edition: Unabridged

Here is presented a forgotten episode of WWII, the Supreme Court case it sparked, and the precedent it set for secret military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay.

In 1942, eight Nazi saboteurs were caught on American beaches after one turned the others in. The execution of the saboteurs was challenged in court but eventually upheld in the Supreme Court's ruling in Ex parte Quirin—a decision that has frequently been cited by the George W. Bush administration in support of its declared power to hold "enemy combatants" and try them by military commission. This use of Ex parte Quirin is clearly on the mind of O'Donnell, a former Supreme Court law clerk, in his narrative of the case, which argues that we should be cautious in applying it as precedence because the process by which it was decided by the Supreme Court was illegitimate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1942, Nazi U-boats landed eight German-Americans with sabotage gear on the U.S. coast. Almost immediately, their leader phoned the FBI to turn everyone in. Traditionally, historians treat this episode as WWII comic relief. Despite the misleading title, O'Donnell treats it not as terrorism but as a sad example of national hysteria trumping justice—one with real relevance today. The arrests made headlines, producing universal outrage and cries for revenge. Anxious to gratify public clamor, President Roosevelt ordered a secret trial by a military commission operating only under the "laws of war." After three weeks of silence, a bulletin announced the execution of six defendants and long prison terms for two. Public opinion enthusiastically approved. The author, a lawyer, agrees with most legal scholars that Roosevelt's order and the trial were a disgrace. But current Bush administration officials consider FDR's handling of the saboteurs a precedent. O'Donnell devotes his final 70 pages to refuting this, quoting liberally from court transcripts of appeals filed by the prisoners. His account of the German saboteurs is also dense with legal maneuvering and now-available trial records. Readers expecting wartime fireworks will be disappointed; this book is a passionate defense of the Bill of Rights. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

". . . a passionate defense of the Bill of Rights." --Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc.; Unabridged edition (July 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786167483
• ISBN-13: 978-0786167487
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,183,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid 5 Star and Super Read, July 18, 2005

By 

Eugene Sullivan (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America (Hardcover)

This book is timely and has intellectual weight. It is a well-researched and well-written story of the eight German terrorists who traveled by U-boats to America and landed on the beaches of New York and Florida during World War II. The book outlines the terrorists' backgrounds, their motivations, the circumstances of their arrests, and an interesting view of their trial by a military commission set up by FDR. This book of history is a pleasure to read because it moves like a fast-paced novel with characters of depth. As for the legal analysis following the history portion of the book (i.e. Chapter 22 and following chapters), I make no comment nor take any position.

However in the history portion, Pierce O'Donnell demonstrated that he is not only a great trial lawyer, but a great writer. Bravo!! A well-deserved 5 star read.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ice is Cracking, June 21, 2005

By 

Rode Burdensee - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America (Hardcover)

Reading Pierce O'Donnell's book is like holding a magnifying glass and a secret decoder ring up to today's headlines - the war in Iraq and the detention of suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda members in Guantánamo without benefit of trial by jury or protection of Geneva Conventions. At first I thought Mr. O'Donnell's book was just an extremely well-documented look at a little-known case of these Nazi saboteurs in 1942, who were quickly tried and fried by President Roosevelt exercising his war powers. Yet the book is much more than that. It's an in-depth examination of the exigencies of denying civil liberties during times of war and really demystifies the writ of habeus corpus for us laymen.

O'Donnell expertly guides the reader through the legal battles of Lincoln and Roosevelt - two presidents faced with war during times when the very life of our nation was in peril. The book brings us right into 2005 and the Bush administration's compounding woes as it suspends the writ of habeus corpus, civil liberties and adherence to Geneva Conventions with abandon. O'Donnell is very bright because he doesn't demonize Bush. Instead his book is a cautionary tale about the exponential troubles being brought upon our nation - a country founded on law -- by a president bending the rule of law to engage in unconstitutional, unlawful actions.

In his essay on "Prudence" Emerson wrote "In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed." That sound you hear is the ice is cracking under President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars German Sabotage During World War II, June 20, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Time Of War: Hitler's Terrorist Attack On America (Hardcover)

Just as I started reading this book I watched a news program give a few minutes discussion on the extension of the so called Patriots Act. I am reminded of the quotation from Benjamin Franklin, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

It also seems that the security authorities always want more power, which they promise to not abuse. This happened when Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. It happened in the aftermath of 9/11, and as beautifully described in this book it happened during World War II when the Germans landed eight men to sabotage aircraft plants and railway hubs in the US.

The planned acts of sabotage never happened, the eight men were captured when one of them turned himself in. Six of them were executed, the other two sentenced to long prison terms. Public opinion was strongly for this action. Legally, Mr. O'Donnell explains the situation was rather disgraceful. And this is the precedent that President Bush is using to justify his actions in detaining "enemy combatants" in Cuba.

These are strange times in which we are living, but as this book says, it isn't the first. Let's hope we pull out of this as well as we have in the past.