Non Fiction Tuesday: Family of Spies

I love nonfiction November, and yet, I failed miserably at participating this year.  I'm still reading a lot of nonfiction, but the TBR piles just keep growing. There are really great books being written and published and I am curious about so many things.  

 

I ordered Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor has been on my radar for a while.  This is a totally different WWII story than any other I've ever read.

In the mid-90s Christine Kuehn receives a letter in the mail from a man wanting to write about Kuehn's grandfather and his role as a Nazi spy during WWII, assisting in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Kuehn's father had revealed very little about his childhood or family, always changing the subject or deflecting questions that might be asked.  But when she tells her husband about the letter, he reassures her by pointing out that there are other people who also share the same last name with her family.

However, when Christine and her husband visit Borders bookstore and begin to look through the index in WWII books, they see Christine's grandfather's name listed repeatedly. Her dad's family worked for the Nazis, providing information critical the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Thirty years have passed since Kuehn was first made aware of her family history.  This book is part memoir as she deals with this revelation, and part history of what unfolded that led Otto Kuehn, his wife, and children to make the decisions they did.  

I loved this book. I could barely put it down once I began reading, and have told anyone who will listen that they should add it to their TBR.  Anyone interested in WWII or history in general will enjoy this one.