After finishing Of Mice and Men I looked at a list of other books that John Steinbeck wrote. The Moon is Down is the one I selected. I had never heard of this book before this week.
It is a very quick read and I enjoyed the story. I learned after I finished reading it that it was written as propaganda during World War II.
The books begins when a small town is invaded and quickly conquered by an enemy army. It is quickly learned that they were able to conquer the town with the help of one of the townspeople who had provided vital information.
Several times throughout the book the Colonel of the conquering army speaks with the mayor of the town. Here is an excerpt from one interchange between Colonel Lanser and Mayor Orden:
“It is your duty to protect them from harm. They will be in danger if they are rebellious. We must get the coal, you see. Our leaders do not tell us how; they order us to get it. But you have your people to protect. You must make them do the work and thus keep them safe.”
Mayor Orden asked, “But suppose they don’t want to be safe?”
“Then you must think for them.”
Orden said a little proudly, “My people don’t like to have others think for them. Maybe they are different from your people.”
The story goes on to show how the townspeople become rebellious and defiant to the commands of the invaders and how the invaders become more ruthless. This in turn leads to more insurgency.
Overall I enjoyed this book and rate it 5 out of 5 stars.
I have enjoyed the previous books I read by Ben Macintyre. I picked this one up not knowing anything about Ursula Kuczynski. She grew up to be a very successful spy for the Soviet Union and received the code name Agent Sonya. I looked forward to reading this. Shortly after I began reading I was hoping I would read about when she would be caught.
Ursula lived a remarkable life. Born in Germany and coming of age in the 1920’s she was exposed to a world of turmoil. She became a committed communist early in life and would not be deterred from her ideology.
She traveled the world first leaving Germany for the United States partially to avoid marriage. She became a member of the Communist Party of the United States. After a stint in the USA she returned to Germany and married the man she had left behind. His career took them to China where her career as a spy began. From there she traveled to the Soviet Union for additional training and continued to work as a spy throughout Europe.
I found it ...
