The novel begins in 1946 when ex-Amish, Konrad, is in trouble. Whilst saving the life of someone in Alabama, he had to kill someone else and he must flee in order to save himself from death row.
When he reaches New York he sees propaganda calling on Americans of German ancestry to leave America for a wonderful life in Germany and its colonies.
He leaves America on a boat to Berlin, which was the capital city of the empire of the Third Reich, narrowly fleeing from a hail of bullets from police officers who were attempting to apprehend him.
Konrad is a tall man and is informed that because of his stature, in excess of two metres in height, when he reaches Germany, he will receive a medal called the Giants Cross.
Mention is made to Konrad on the ship that skilled farmers are required at the Gothengau Colony, which is in the Crimea.
Konrad is informed that because of his height he would earn an instant commission in the SS.
On the boat he soon meets a German American singer called Petra who is slated for a good career as a singer for the Reich. Petra will also play a very important role in Konrad's life.
The novel moves forward to the Gothengau Colony in 1965. A rocket attack from there on Berlin by what the Nazis viewed as terrorists forces Konrad (who is by now a soldier-farmer (despite his Amish background) to concentrate on commanding an SS battalion made up of convicts.
He has to play both sides in a conflict he really wanted no part in, but he has others to think of, including Petra.
But will he be able to rely on the assistance of his fellow German-Americans who he arrived with two decades before?
And who will become the new Führer to replace Hitler after his death?
This is a well-written and exciting novel that tells an interesting alternative history.
It is published by Heart of the Bruce at £8.99.
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