Winter [Hardcover]

Len Deighton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 1989

Peter and Pauli Winter are two very different brothers born into a time when the horrors of war engulf and extinguish the Germany that is. Yet for all their differences, the destinies of the two brothers are forever bound to the madness that lies ahead. From their sheltered childhood through their violent coming of age in the Great War . . . from the chaos of 1920 Berlin to the spreading power of Hitler . . . the brothers are wrenched apart by conflicting ideals and ambitions. Now mortal enemies, they are trapped in a holocaust that threatens to tear them -- and the world -- to pieces.


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Modern history and suspenseful fiction are here brilliantly combined by a master of both. The plot revolves around two brothers, sons of a wealthy Berlin banker and his American wife, whose conflicting destinies are the means by which Deighton (Blitzkrieg, The Ipcress File) tells the story of Germany from 1900 to the end of World War II. Peter Winter, who flies zeppelins in World War I, becomes a staunch anti-Nazi and then a colonel in the American Army; Paul, charming, ambitious and psychologically flawed, becomes a top legal adviser to the Nazi regime. They finally confront each other at Nuremberg. Though Paul is not entirely convincing as a basically "nice" Nazi, who has conscience enough to save his brother's Jewish wife yet gives spurious legal sanction to Hitler's atrocities without a qualm, both he and his brother are handy pegs on which Deighton hangs accurate, exciting and cleverly selected dollops of social, political and front-line military history, while highlighting the tensions between Prussian and Bavarian, Wehrmacht and SS that hastened the nation's rush toward suicide. 100,000 first printing; BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Brothers Peter and Paul Winter, separated by World War II, are reunited at the Nuremberg trials. Peter, a U.S. army colonel, is on the staff of prosecuting attorneys; Paul, a former influential Gestapo lawyer, may soon be on trial for his life. Through the Winter brothers, their influential financier father and American-born mother, their friends and colleagues, Deighton gives a recognizably human form to the shape of German history from 1900 through 1945 and makes comprehensible the awful appeal of Nazism to people of different persuasions. The somewhat contrived ending does not diminish the power of this fine novel, which again shows that Deighton's mastery is not limited to the spy story. BOMC alternate. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (September 6, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517699311
• ISBN-13: 978-0517699317
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,134,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better appreciated if you know Bernard Samson, March 7, 2001

By 

"michaeleve" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter: A Novel of a Berlin Family (Mass Market Paperback)

Although 'Winter' is about the family of the same name and although it reads quite well as a stand alone novel, I appreciated it more having already read quite a few of the Bernard Samson stories. It puts Bernard in historical context and provides background for some of the central characters of the 'Samson series'- most notably Bret Rensselaer.

As a novel in it's own right Winter tells the tale of two German brothers - Peter and Pauli Winter. Starting from their childhood in 1899 we see them develop. Peter, the elder blossoming under the care of his father, while Pauli, easygoing and carefree is in his father's shadow - the second son complex - striving unsuccessfully to please his father. We end up liking Pauli more than the serious, staid Peter and this is surprising because Pauli becomes the chief legal advisor to Nazi Germany.

The strength of the story is in character development. Pauli is not weak, or evil. There is no basic character flaw here that led him to serve the Nazis. He's not A Nazi himself, nor is he anti-semitic.

The book is a good read because he is believable and plausible and is an interesting study of a good man gone wrong. It's a bit long for the story it tells though, and it's not because it details the historical events taking place - these are only mentioned in passing in conversations amongst the characters.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 'Winter' - the prequel to the 'Bernard Samson' series, July 18, 2003

By 

Clive J A Byerley (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter: A Novel of a Berlin Family (Mass Market Paperback)

All those who have read any of the stunning series of nine linked novels about Bernard Samson and his friends, enemies and relatives - which begin with 'Berlin Game' and end with 'Spy Charity' - long to know more about the central characters and how they came to exist
'Winter' is the chance to find the answers to many tantalising questions. Whilst it is a splendid story in its own right - covering a German family's rise and fall from pre-war times of Zeppelins and long dresses to the fall of Nazism in 1945 - the story appeals primarily to those readers who have already some aquaintence with the main characters of the novel series.
This is not Deighton's most poetic book - too much to cover in so short a space - but it is still a good read of the 'family saga' genre.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Chilling Historical Novel Of Germany During 2 World Wars., December 8, 2003

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winter (Hardcover)

Master spy novelist Len Deighton has created a chilling history of Germany from 1900 through 1945, told through the characters of an upper middle-class German family - the Winters. Deighton, with his knowledge of Germany and the German people, along with his meticulous research, brings his characters and history alive in "Winter: A Berlin Family."

Veronica Rensselaer Winter, a wealthy American heiress married to a patriotic and ambitious German, Harald Winter, gives birth to her second son Paul in Vienna in 1900. Paul and his older brother Peter are the novel's central characters in this complex family drama that gives chilling insight into the "normal," everyday men and women who made the horrors of Nazi Germany possible. Deighton creates an excellent backdrop for pre-World War I Germany, with the brothers' wonderful boyhood in Berlin. They suffer all the horrors of fighting in the Great War and both change considerably as a result. The war's aftermath brings political anarchy to the country, where money is so inflated it is worthless and jobs are almost nonexistent. Although poverty scarcely effects the wealthy Winter family, they are very aware of their fatherland's turmoil. Communists and Nazis battle for power and more people turn to Hitler as the answer to Germany's recovery from its humiliating defeat. Deighton paints a sinister picture of the rise of Nazism and WWII, as well as the Final Solution for the Jewish population of Europe. People like Pauli Winter, who becomes the quintessential Nazi bureaucrat, is portrayed superficially as a "nice Nazi." Underneath, he is just the type of murderer who helped make the deaths of countless millions possible. His brother Peter takes an entirely different route, but never fails in his loyalty and love for his younger brother.

This book is unusual for a novel about Nazi Germany. The author has created realistic characters and developed them well. The horrors of the Great War's effect on the German people are demonstrated clearly enough that it becomes obvious, if not acceptable, why they turned toward Hitler for relief and change. It is easy to care for both brothers, their family and friends, so that when Deighton's characters change their morality, for the sake of political expediency, some readers may justify (temporarily) their actions and many others will loathe those who went with the flow - or directed it. This novel is much more than a family history - it is a well-written and amazingly accurate history of Germany during the first half of the 20th century. Highly recommended!
JANA