I enjoyed this book and am happy to provide comments about it. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of it to me via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

It's a suspenseful and atmospheric historical thriller about the 1938 Munich Conference where British and French leaders met with Hitler and Mussolini to deal with the Sudetenland issue. Author Harris tells the story from the point of view of two fictional junior diplomats, one German and the other British. Each of them has an interesting backstory which complements the main story. The German is one of an ad hoc resistance group seeking to prevent Germany from going to war. Their strategy is to convince the British to stand firm against Hitler in the belief that he will back down in the face of their resolve. The British diplomat is a private secretary in Chamberlain's office with access to the Prime Minister. The key is that the two diplomats were friends when they were at Oxford together in the early 1930's. The plan is for the British to be given (via the junior diplomat) Hitler's secret plans for invasion in order to convince Chamberlain that Hitler is lying about his willingness to settle the issue without war.

There's a sense of intense menace as the conference convenes; an SS major is suspicious of the German's activity at the meetings and has him under surveillance. Readers can watch "from the balcony" as the plan to pass the secret plan is put into action, which ratchets up the tension. The ultimate outcome of the Conference is well-known and Harris stays true to history (this isn't an alternate history story) while ending his story in a satisfying way. I recall a comment that the best novels inform as well as entertain. That remark certainly applies to this novel. I was left with several questions about each side's strategy, e.g. were the negotiations a stalling tactic to give time to prepare for war?

Harris tells his story in a "you are there" style -- his grasp of detail is outstanding, especially about Munich and the meeting logistics. He brings the "real" characters to life too; he presents Chamberlain in a sympathetic light, and is not as kind to the other side: Hitler, Mussolini and their hangers-on.

I recommend it as an intense well-crafted story which will appeal to history buffs.

I loved Fatherland and other Robert Harris novels. This one isn't quite as good but was still entertaining. Harris' writing seems a tad more commercial here, almost as if he is trying to imitate Jeffrey Archer. That's likely not a bad thing in terms of broadening his readership but I enjoyed his earlier more nuanced style much more.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the e-review editon of this novel.

This novel is set over four days during the September 1938 Munich Conference where an agreement was signed between Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain and Daladier to settle the fate of Czechoslovakia.

“Munich” is a tantalising game of “what if” and a glimpse on how things might have turned out. The story is told through the eyes of two men who were friends at Oxford but are now in opposite camps. The main players are Hugh Legat, private secretary to Chamberlain and Paul Hartmann, a diplomat in the German foreign office. With a unique style, Mr. Harris skilfully weaves a gripping fiction with historical events and looks at those four days from both sides. Taking us behind close door is quite an achievement especially when taking something well documented and showing us something else. In this dramatization, both Legat and Hartman’s machinations affect the course of history.

The story is quite slow to start with. The first third of the book is hugging the actual facts with grave-faced men coming in and out of their offices and minutia details involving the procedural of the two parties as they navigate the diplomatic path towards the summit at which the Sudetenland would be handed back to Germany. In the later part, when the dual plotline converges and we inch closer to the center of powers we discover Hitler’s true agenda….and more melodramatic scenes occur giving “Munich” a tad of suspense. Even with some excitement the story never reach the level of a high-octane page-turner I love to read. The tale nevertheless brilliantly evokes a sense of place and its vivid descriptions leading to the main event highlight why Mr. Harris is a master novelist who focuses on events surrounding the Second World War.

A superb novel. Somehow manages to be a nail biting thriller despite that fact that everyone knows how it ends. Harris strikes gold again.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Sometimes I read a book that takes its time in drawing me in, Often the main characters are not strong enough to make me care what happens to them. And then there is a book like Munich. From the first page I was hooked, totally drawn into the story and the characters. While I was uncertain how the story would reveal itself knowing what the true history was, it nonetheless was riveting.
It fleshed out some of the characters with little personal tidbits that helped them leap from the page as flesh and blood.
It did not change the outcome. We all know what it was. However, it did perhaps, explain what turned out to be naïveté of monumental proportions. Perhaps Chamberlain realized it was not Peace in Our Time but Peace At This Particular Moment.
The results would be the inevitable war. Might it have been avoided had those opposing HItler been more resolved. We will never know.
I give this book a wholehearted five purrs and two paws up.