A SHOT ACROSS THE BOW

In this historical novel, a German Jewish journalist witnesses the rise of Zionism and the ramifications of the Armenian purge following his assignment to Constantinople on the eve of World War I.

In January 1914, Harry Haller, 24, becomes his Berlin newspaper’s correspondent in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. His editor notes that European powers “all want to be on the spot when it finally collapses.” Harry is particularly excited to have proximity to Palestine, since “Germany—all of Europe in fact—holds at best only a second-class future for Jews.” He does press check-ins with German and Turkish notables in Constantinople but also connects with Zionist leaders in the area and soon travels to Jewish settlements in Palestine. Then the launch of World War I escalates tensions. Ottoman and German leaders create “jihadi propaganda” to incite area Muslims to fight, but this also results in the horrific Armenian purge. Following Germany’s defeat in the war, Harry returns to Berlin. There, he follows the trial for the Armenian who assassinated an Ottoman leader living in Berlin. Then Harry receives another life-changing opportunity. Waldmann’s ambitious novel, which includes a host of real-life characters and events, makes for largely intriguing but at times overwhelming reading. Fictional Harry occasionally disappears from view as the sweeping tale’s historical figures share backstories and/or conduct business. Still, this book colorfully depicts this volatile era in various places, including Berlin (“The restaurants, cafés, nightclubs, cinemas, all the places for diversion, were flourishing, filled to capacity in the daytime and nighttime. The patrons, ordinary Berliners, flashy war profiteers, refugees, all had a common goal: bury the bad memories, live life to the fullest”). The intricate story also sadly reinforces, as one character notes, how “it is far easier to turn the dial up toward ‘hatred’ than in the opposite direction.”  

This engaging tale deftly captures the complexities that gave birth to the modern Middle East.