White Flag Down

by Joel N. Ross

Book Overview

In this rich, complex novel, based on newly declassified documents, Ross takes readers on a breathtaking chase through World War II Europe, where everyone's motives are suspect--and nobody is neutral. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385513895
• ISBN13: 9780385513890
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Unveiling a turning point in history from a haunting "fly-on-the-wall" view

When I read Joel N. Ross' first book, "Double Cross Blind," I found it a riveting read, but in "White Flag Down," Ross has punched up his pace with snappy prose and action-packed scenes. He has delved into Switzerland's neutral role during the Second World War and peeled away our assumption of that country's righteous purity. The Author's Notes on the historical base for his novel are as interesting as the story he tells. Like learning that the church harbors pedofiles and predators amongst its preisthood, Ross takes true facts and turns them into "what-if" triumphs of intrigue and suspense. If all history lessons were treated this way, everyone would be demanding to study more history. Other novels of late also play up Germany's efforts to forge non-aggression pacts with either the Allies or Russia when Nazi leaders and military generals began to worry they can lose the war under Hitler. Ross' unlikely mix of characters--a Russian officer, an American pilot and a Swiss reporter--contribute engaging backgrounds to the events that draw them together as allies in October 1942, when for a brief period a ceasefire silenced the Wehrmacht's battle for Stalingrad. It was the respite Russia needed to resist the Nazi advance that the Russians later repelled during the long cold winters that defeated and killed German troops on the eastern front. American Lieutenant Grant pilots a Mosquito in a reconnaissance mission when he spots a V3 rocket prototype and is shot down over Switzerland. He expects to be repatriated not interred by Nazis bent on finding out what he saw. When he escapes, he looks for help from the wife of a journalist (Anna Fay) he befriended during the Japanese occupation of China years before. Anna is on the trail of a source who can reveal that the Swiss government is collaborating with Nazi Germany by creating a "clearing credit" system, in which goods are traded with no exchange of currency. It is a free pass for Germany to bring in the oil, military equipment and goods it needs to continue the war, when in fact Swiss intervention prevents the Allies from starving out the Nazis before Stalin is poised to occupy all of Eastern Europe. This source is also the ex-wife of a Russian army officer, Eduard ASkimov, who has been removed from the Battle for Stalingrad to track her down because she has alerted the Russians to evidence they can use to blackmail the Germans into a truce to save Stalingrad. Thus, Ross sets up a conflict of interests that stokes a super thriller and never lets up steam until the last page. Ross stands among a growing coterie of great spy thriller writers.

Little known side of WWII-- Swiss "neutrality"

Before reading White Flag Down, I'd always taken Swiss "neutrality" in WWII at face value-- never realized how much Switzerland's economic relations with Germany made Germany's war effort (and the Holocaust) possible. This book really opened my eyes about that, and a brief author's note at the end explains the historical background. The story itself is a riveting, edge of your seat action tale, with great characters that you can root for. The author keeps laying on the tension--things keep getting worse, from a plane crash on the German border to a Swiss prison camp to the battle for Stalingrad. Particularly, the American, Swiss and Russian protagonists provide an interesting symbol of the three countries' sometimes uneasy relations. A great read, highly recommended

Fast Paced WWII Novel

Joel Ross writes a fast-moving, action-packed WWII story set mostly in "neutral" Switzerland. The plot centers around an effort to form a second non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany which would enable the Nazis to focus on and probably win the war against the west. This book describes a cast of diverse characters who are either working to abet or abort this pact in supposedly neutral Switzerland. While Ross is not yet in the first rank of thriller writers, he's close. His book is focused and rife with tension. He writes with a confidence that indicates extensive research (based on historical fact) and he knows how to make a sentence or a chapter sing. All in all, I found it an enjoyable war thriller.