Review
"This sophisticated, multi-textured novel works both as a thriller to rival the best of Stephen Carter and as an insightful look at one of America's darkest historical moments... The plot twists are both genuinely surprising and logical, and Roosevelt is subtle in illustrating how the liberty vs. security tensions of the 1940s foreshadow those of the post-9/11 era." ― Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Deftly written and carefully observed, Allegiance is an ingenious blend of history and imagination. Roosevelt’s novel vividly portrays a pivotal time in America’s past, luring the reader through a clever plot in which the very fate of the nation’s honor is at stake.” -- Koethi Zan, author of ― The Never List
“The perfect melding of the times of a young man and the times of a young country, as both struggle to delineate the parameters of justice during war... No one else but the immensely talented Kermit Roosevelt could have written Allegiance, and I cannot recommend it more highly.” -- Lisa Scottoline, author of ― Betrayed and Keep Quiet
“A riveting tale of murder and conspiracy within the highest echelons of government in WW II Washington, D.C.” -- Cordelia Frances Biddle, author of ― The Conjurer and Deception’s Daughter
"My favorite World War II historical novel was Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. Now I have two favorites. Kermit Roosevelt's Allegiance is an instant classic." -- Nelson DeMille
"Roosevelt is an elegantwriter and acute observer of life along the Beltway. Anyone who likes ScottTurow’s legal thrillers will like this one as well.” ― Library Journal
“[Allegiance] excels as an introduction to American wartime history. It paints meticulous portraits of the Washington legal world, Philadelphia high society and the West Coast internment camps.… The profound questions that it raises—about the powers of the president in times of war, the tensions between liberty and security, and the role of the courts in resolving those tensions—remain as important in today’s threat-filled world as they were some three quarters of a century ago.” -- David Lat ― Wall Street Journal
“A marvelous and timely new legal thriller about a defining national moment … fast moving and intelligent ... Highly recommended.” -- Anniken Davenport ― Bitter Empire
“Combines the momentum of a top-notch legal thriller with a thoughtful examination of one of the worst civil rights violations in US history in Allegiance: A Novel.” -- Joe Donahue, host of the WAMC Northeast Public Radio ― WAMC “Northeast Public Radio”
"Roosevelt paints a disturbing picture of Washington at war as a place driven by patriotism and principle — and by cynicism and greed... a splendid, troubling and authoritative novel, conceived with a vision that sees beyond the years and resonates in the present day." -- Jay Strafford, special correspondent at the Richmond Times-Dispatch
“An insider’s view of a world at war, a rogue’s gallery with real-life rogues, an exploration of the limits of American idealism, Kermit Roosevelt’s Allegiance is also just a damn good yarn. It keeps you flipping pages even as it artfully and fruitfully complicates your understanding of the way we were. This is historical fiction as it should be.” -- Louis Bayard, author of ― The Pale Blue Eye
About the Author
Kermit Roosevelt is a professor of constitutional law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Born in Washington, DC, he attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. Before joining the Penn faculty, he clerked for DC Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams and Supreme Court Justice David Souter, and practiced law in Chicago. His experiences clerking and practicing law informed his first novel, the national campus bestseller In the Shadow of the Law (FSG, 2005).
