A compelling story of wartime bravery and the plight of refugees.
France
Well written in a pleasant style and easy to read... A fascinating and inspiring story.
The Association of Jewish Refugees Journal
Fabulous. A page-turning account, told with the full cooperation of many of the survivors. Meticulous and dogged research. Compelling.
Caroline Sanderson
... Read moreThe Bookseller, 'Ones to Watch'
Extraordinary.
Daily Mirror
Grose has written ...ambitious book that covers, among other things, the history of French Protestantism and the policy of the Vichy government, It is, however, the individual stories that stand out. Some striking characters cross their pages. Albert Camus came to the plateau, hoping that the air would be good for his tuberculosis, and wrote the first draft of La Peste there. Virginia Hall, an American adventuress so hard-bitten that she would have made Ernest Hemingway look like Marcel Proust, was sent to contact the local Maquis. She received packets of tea with parachute drops of weapons and refused to accept that having a wooden leg and an atrocious accent might make her an unsuitable guerrilla leader. Above all, this book depicts the mosaic of little tragedies behind the collective tragedy of death and deportation.
Evening Standard
A fine book and a captivating and heartening story.
Scotsman
Peter Grose's book stands out as a complete story about life on the Plateau during World War II. Peter uses only facts to tell us a true story. He is one of those rare raconteurs who can write a history book that reads like a novel.
Nelly Trocme, eyewitness and daughter of Andre and Magda Trocme Incredibly moving... Ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the most extraordinary circumstances. A book full of love for the region. Grose underlines underlines the role played by the brilliant forger, Oscar Rosowsky. A reminder of the best that humans are capable of, but also an inspiration.
Times Literary Supplement
A story resonant in our days, the age of refugees, and a grand narrative in its own right, all told with absorbing skill. Peter Grose's tale of the astounding rescue village of Chambon is a tale of the practical deliverance of the hunted from the Nazis. A book to cherish and recommend!
Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler's Ark Show Less