Historical

V2: A Novel of World War II

V2: A Novel of World War II

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-31 07:51:22
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Robert Harris
  • ISBN：0525567097
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Summary

The first rocket will take five minutes to hit London。
You have six minutes to stop the second。

From the best-selling author of Fatherland and Munich comes a WWII thriller about a German rocket engineer， a former actress turned British spy， and the Nazi rocket program。

Rudi Graf is an engineer who always dreamed of sending rockets to the moon。 But instead， he finds himself working alongside Wernher von Braun， launching V2 rockets at London for the Nazis from a bleak seaside town in occupied Holland。 As the SS increases its scrutiny on the project， Graf， an engineer more than a sol - dier， has to muster all of his willpower to toe the party line。 And when rumors of a defector circulate through the German ranks， Graf be - comes a prime suspect。

Meanwhile， Kay Caton-Walsh， a young English intelligence officer， is living through the turmoil of war。 After she and her lover， an RAF officer， are caught in a V2 attack， she volunteers to ship out for newly liberated Bel - gium。 Armed with little more than a slide rule and a few equations， Kay and her colleagues hope to locate and destroy the launch sites。 But at this stage in the war it's hard to know who， if anyone， she can trust。

As the death toll soars， these twin stories play out against the background of the German missile campaign during the Second World War。 And what the reader comes to under - stand is that Kay's and Graf's destinies are on a collision course

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Reviews

Kevin ，

Historically fascinating， but not all that exciting。

Sarah Goldson ，

A really fascinating book about the V2 rocket， incorporating historical truth about some of the places which were hit in London， including Billericay， Barking and Dagenham。 I enjoyed this a lot。 The two main characters are a woman who uses her knowledge of maths to help calculate the trajectory of the rockets， and Graf， the German scientist who works on the development of the V2 itself， and who later comes to question his own moral code。 Yes， it’s technical in places， but not so technical that I A really fascinating book about the V2 rocket， incorporating historical truth about some of the places which were hit in London， including Billericay， Barking and Dagenham。 I enjoyed this a lot。 The two main characters are a woman who uses her knowledge of maths to help calculate the trajectory of the rockets， and Graf， the German scientist who works on the development of the V2 itself， and who later comes to question his own moral code。 Yes， it’s technical in places， but not so technical that I lost interest or couldn’t follow。 I wouldn’t be out off by that。 I would read another Robert Harris - maybe Munich is next in my wish list！ This book was lent to me by a neighbour， and I’m really glad he pressed his copy into my hands。 。。。more

David Evans ，

Barbara said， “Every time you kiss a man， the Germans drop a rocket on him — have you noticed that？” Similar in vein to Enigma which helped to publicise the top secret life at Bletchley Park。 This time a semi-fictionalised account of the development， deployment and destructive power of the V2 and the British attempts to combat it seen through the eyes of fictional Dr Rudi Graf， life-long friend and colleague of real Werner Von Braun， in charge of firing the rockets at London from Scheveningen an Barbara said， “Every time you kiss a man， the Germans drop a rocket on him — have you noticed that？” Similar in vein to Enigma which helped to publicise the top secret life at Bletchley Park。 This time a semi-fictionalised account of the development， deployment and destructive power of the V2 and the British attempts to combat it seen through the eyes of fictional Dr Rudi Graf， life-long friend and colleague of real Werner Von Braun， in charge of firing the rockets at London from Scheveningen and WAAF Section Officer Kay” Caton-Walsh of the Central Interpretation Unit， RAF Medmenham whose task is to study the stereoscopic reconnaissance photos of the launch area。I learned a lot of useful history of the zV units and rather too much about the sex-lives of female WAAFs but this is a cracking read。 。。。more

Karl Jorgenson ，

Harris says this is the book he wrote during the pandemic lockdown。 An impressive feat。 Harris does here what he's done in other books: take historical events and weave a story around them。 The V2 rockets the Nazis attacked London with were blindly destructive， destroying blocks of flats and killing dozens or hundreds of people at a time。 The V2 was the precursor to the modern day truck-bomb-terrorist-one can only hope it doesn't happen here。 Harris has put together a compelling story， focused o Harris says this is the book he wrote during the pandemic lockdown。 An impressive feat。 Harris does here what he's done in other books: take historical events and weave a story around them。 The V2 rockets the Nazis attacked London with were blindly destructive， destroying blocks of flats and killing dozens or hundreds of people at a time。 The V2 was the precursor to the modern day truck-bomb-terrorist-one can only hope it doesn't happen here。 Harris has put together a compelling story， focused on a WAAF officer helping to locate and destroy V2 launchers， and a German scientist， forced into the role of helping kill London civilians by Nazi fanatics。An interesting and worthy micro-view of WWII。 。。。more

Herb ，

OK novel that didn't live up to its rave reviews。 An English young woman and a guilt-ridden German scientist work from opposite sides to defeat the Nazi rocket bombardment program。 Meh。 OK novel that didn't live up to its rave reviews。 An English young woman and a guilt-ridden German scientist work from opposite sides to defeat the Nazi rocket bombardment program。 Meh。 。。。more

Chris ，

I’m a big fan of Robert Harris’s books， and I’ve read most of what he’s written。 V2 does not disappoint。 Harris is a master at writing WWII fiction such as his book “Enigma” that is one of my favorite books。 V2 is fast paced from start to finish， and it does well at balancing men’s and women’s viewpoints。 I haven’t read much about the V2 rocket， and now I’m curious to read more about this subject。

Sarah Bath ，

Thoroughly enjoyable， but not an absolute Harris classic。 Written during lockdown it does， at times， feel a little sketchy and hurried。 Great history， though， and it made me want to read more about the V2 story。

Chuck Slack ，

An easy， entertaining read。 Just what you want when reading on the patio in the dog days of summer。

Paul Reid ，

As is it seems as always， I learned new things from reading a Robert Harris book。He has a way of using historical events and situations， and creates a fictional， interesting story around them。Whether it be Roman times or WW2 in this case， you get a real feeling of glimpsing what life was like during those times， whist reading a novel。 He’s a clever author！

John ，

Naturally this is a well-written war-time thriller， but perhaps a little low-key by Harris's standards？ He builds two sympathetic characters， both of them perhaps not surprisingly rather emotionally lost。 There are some good twists to the plot and the underlying ambition of the German scientists to build space rockets （rather than to win Germany's war） is well explored， if the ending is perhaps slightly implausible。 Naturally this is a well-written war-time thriller， but perhaps a little low-key by Harris's standards？ He builds two sympathetic characters， both of them perhaps not surprisingly rather emotionally lost。 There are some good twists to the plot and the underlying ambition of the German scientists to build space rockets （rather than to win Germany's war） is well explored， if the ending is perhaps slightly implausible。 。。。more

Rory Hills ，

I am a big Robert Harris fan， indeed Fatherland is probably my favourite of all books， but this left me rather underwhelmed。 It is well written but there was really no plot at all。 Hardly a thriller in my view。

Ricardo Motti ，

Don't want to feed stereotypes， but the older I get， the more WW2 books I read。 :（ Don't want to feed stereotypes， but the older I get， the more WW2 books I read。 :（ 。。。more

Rosalyn ，

Mr Harris always guarantees a good read

Vince Waechter ，

Historical fiction。 A little slow and dry at times but a great insight into the German V2 program。

Jay Clement ，

62-2021。 A spare novel that fictionalizes the V2 rocket program in 1944 against England。 We have some appealing characters， and some math， and good flavor of wartime life in both Belgium and England。 But， the book sort of ends quickly before building up too much steam。 I’ll be back when the Author writes his next one， though。

Chris Waterford ，

I didn't expect to like this book given its subject matter but Harris is such a good story teller that he could probably make a phone directory （remember them？） sound interesting。 The history was informative and the touches of romance made it enjoyable。7/10 I didn't expect to like this book given its subject matter but Harris is such a good story teller that he could probably make a phone directory （remember them？） sound interesting。 The history was informative and the touches of romance made it enjoyable。7/10 。。。more

Sally Hirst ，

It is interesting and I know more about rockets now than I did （and how that worked at the end of world war two）。 He tells the story through the eyes of a woman in the WAAF who is part of those tracking and trying to stop the bombings and one of the German scientists who invented it。 Their story lines also worked， but it seemed short。 I could have done with more - more story and more understanding of the bombing overall （what came before）。 I've learnt lots from several of his books and enjoyed d It is interesting and I know more about rockets now than I did （and how that worked at the end of world war two）。 He tells the story through the eyes of a woman in the WAAF who is part of those tracking and trying to stop the bombings and one of the German scientists who invented it。 Their story lines also worked， but it seemed short。 I could have done with more - more story and more understanding of the bombing overall （what came before）。 I've learnt lots from several of his books and enjoyed doing so， but this one didn't have the heft of some。 。。。more

Mike ，

Though still an entertaining read， this is Harris' weakest novel to date。 The story is gripping， the character detail good， but this could have been 200 pages longer and been much richer and explored issues such as the Belgian underground， life around V2 launch sites， etc。 Though still an entertaining read， this is Harris' weakest novel to date。 The story is gripping， the character detail good， but this could have been 200 pages longer and been much richer and explored issues such as the Belgian underground， life around V2 launch sites， etc。 。。。more

Mark ，

V2 is clearly not as good as the early books by Harris， but it’s still a bit better than Munich and light years ahead of the awful Second Sleep。 V2 features the typical， cookie-cutter plot and structure Harris adopts lately， but I always liked his style and like when he writes about WW2 or other thorougly researched historical periods。 V2 has a similar taste to Munich， with a low-profile approach and the double main character thing， but as I said it’s slightly better because it’s less political V2 is clearly not as good as the early books by Harris， but it’s still a bit better than Munich and light years ahead of the awful Second Sleep。 V2 features the typical， cookie-cutter plot and structure Harris adopts lately， but I always liked his style and like when he writes about WW2 or other thorougly researched historical periods。 V2 has a similar taste to Munich， with a low-profile approach and the double main character thing， but as I said it’s slightly better because it’s less political and a bit more unsettling， like his earlier thrillers。 Overall， it’s somewhat a forgettable book but it’s still a refreshing read for a couple of days。 。。。more

Lee ，

A very interesting novel about the conflict between the V2 scientists and soldier-operators on the German side， and British - mainly RAF and WRAF- military intelligence on the allied side。 Lots of similarities between both sides。 Almost worth 5 stars although I felt the ending petered out slightly as it leapt forward nearly a year。

Sam ，

I have been wanting to read this for a while now but find myself slightly deflated after reading it。 Perhaps the hype was too much。 Choosing the latter part of the war and just a snapshot of the British search for the launch sites is perhaps too narrow。 The V2 project was monumental in scale （although the results were not impressive） - the 2500 dead in London notwithstanding。 The story is told from a German perspective through the eyes of one of the rocket scientists and a British perspective， a I have been wanting to read this for a while now but find myself slightly deflated after reading it。 Perhaps the hype was too much。 Choosing the latter part of the war and just a snapshot of the British search for the launch sites is perhaps too narrow。 The V2 project was monumental in scale （although the results were not impressive） - the 2500 dead in London notwithstanding。 The story is told from a German perspective through the eyes of one of the rocket scientists and a British perspective， a female officer whose fruitless task it was to try and pinpoint where the rockets were being launched from。 Both main characters are engaging but overall it's somehow underwhelming despite it being a fast read and well paced with tons of well researched details。 I felt the same about Second Sleep his previous novel， so perhaps it's just me。Read it yourself and judge。A Cure for Sceptics 。。。more

Terry J。 Paquet ，

V2 is a great read！This story had the right balance between facts and fiction…。。which kept it very interesting from start to finish。 The V2 was an amazing engineering feat if you can step aside from the senseless and devastating human loss that it and it’s war leaders caused。

Christoph John ，

Robert Harris has a reputation to maintain。 Ever since his ground-breaking and immaculately researched and imagined debut Fatherland， he’s given us a series of complex and thorough novels across various European landscapes， communities and historical counterpoints。 Some are better than others。 V2 isn’t going to win any awards。 The novel is a perfunctory wartime espionage thriller， but it’s very hard to create thrills from a aerodynamic engineering， a slide rule and a book of logarithms。The novel Robert Harris has a reputation to maintain。 Ever since his ground-breaking and immaculately researched and imagined debut Fatherland， he’s given us a series of complex and thorough novels across various European landscapes， communities and historical counterpoints。 Some are better than others。 V2 isn’t going to win any awards。 The novel is a perfunctory wartime espionage thriller， but it’s very hard to create thrills from a aerodynamic engineering， a slide rule and a book of logarithms。The novel is split into alternating German and British chapters。 For the former， Harris gives us Rudi Graf， an engineer responsible for the design， build and launch of the German rocket program。 Along with his superior， the real-life Werner Von Braun， Graf is a collaborator with the Nazis rather than a fully paid up member。 This allows Harris certain leeway in his approach to the German war effort。 The S。S。 and their ilk are uniformed， brusque， obsessed with secrecy and discovering lies。 The engineers are a cheerful， slightly dreamy bunch， who are more concerned with experiments than death tolls。 Harris’ interpretation of the cloying atmosphere of fear and reprisal isn’t damning enough。 I had no sensation of terror or suspense。 The best sequence took place in a brothel where Graf meets a young， timid resistance fighter。 His colours get firmly pinned to a mast。 This had a gripping， edge of your seat feel to it。 Subsequent chapters only attempted to recreate such tension。The Allied war effort is equally bland。 Kay Walsh is a WAAF lieutenant working on stereoscopic reconnaissance。 After surviving a V2 bombing and an adulterous love affair， young Kay gets transferred to Belgium to work on trace and fix radar calculations， assessing the parabolic curves of missiles to pinpoint launch sites。 There’s also a mild and irritating spy game being played， but as Kay is barely even involved except by her own suspicions， the events are unusually sparse。Harris has tried to create background for his characters， but while Graf’s is convincing， Kay’s is not。 She’s hopelessly prim and ordinary， both in manner and thought， unless she gets into bed。 Maybe that was the point。 Harris is never any good with sex scenes。 He prefers to omit them altogether; probably wise。 He tries to recreate the stifling atmosphere of war， but it feels like a rosy picture。 Everyone’s too polite and cheerful。 I had only fleeting glimpses of terror。 Not even an explosion dents the stiff-upper-lip。The story resolves itself competently and without surprise。 There are too many obvious clues for us not to perceive where the narrative is heading。 The word count is low。 I read this in six chunks but could probably have finished it in two。 If you are unfamiliar with Robert Harris， it would be quite a good book to introduce yourself to。In the acknowledgements， Harris is at pains to mention the factual information he’s included。 This is welcome， but hardly necessary。 I’d expect a novelist to do his research。 He also falls into the recent authorial habit of identifying how long a novel has taken then to write [“four hours every morning， seven days a week for fourteen weeks”] Sebastian Faulks started the trend。 It’s not a good idea。 I’m not very interested in how much his family suffered his habit。 I’d have preferred a more detailed and visceral reading experience。V2 is okay as far as it goes， but it doesn’t go far enough。 。。。more

John Ryan ，

Good on atmosphere as usual。 Characters a bit two dimensional but ， as with my previous six by this author ， an enjoyable read。

John Smyth ，

Set at the end of WWll Harris shows us through the eyes of two fictional characters what it must have been like to be involved in the V2 programme where rockets were launched from Europe to hit London。 Told through the eyes of a British WAAF officer responsible for interpreting recognisance photos of probable launch sites and a German， Dr Rudi Graf， a friend of the real Wernher von Braun， who has responsibility for the launching of the rockets。

Caroline Moiret ，

'V2' was slow to get started and at first I wondered whether to persevere with it。 However， it DID pick up。 I don't think this is R Harris's best book， but， despite lots of German military's names so that it was difficult to remember who was who， it is still a very good read。 For me the outstanding moment in the book was the description of an air attack， as seen by Graf from the ground。 I said "wow"， as I read it and it took my breath away。 Incredibly visual and auditory。 Stunning writing。 Surpr 'V2' was slow to get started and at first I wondered whether to persevere with it。 However， it DID pick up。 I don't think this is R Harris's best book， but， despite lots of German military's names so that it was difficult to remember who was who， it is still a very good read。 For me the outstanding moment in the book was the description of an air attack， as seen by Graf from the ground。 I said "wow"， as I read it and it took my breath away。 Incredibly visual and auditory。 Stunning writing。 Surprising to read that it was written just now during Lockdown and also in quite a short space of time。R Harris has written some of the best books I have read recently。 Before 'V2'， I read 'Ghost'。 Despite the off-putting but appropriate title， this was also a very good read， a good plot with depth and good characterizations。 Also some beautiful prose to savour。 Another of his I particularly liked was 'Conclave'。 Despite being slightly predictable， a very informative， engrossing and interesting read。I am really impressed by all the research that Harris must inevitably do for each of his very diverse books。， which he obviously relishes doing。 I wonder which he enjoys more: the writing or the researh。 I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter。 An interested， thorough and intelligent man。 。。。more

Phyllida ，

Another great wartime thriller from Robert Harris。

David Bisset ，

Well researched， but rather disappointingRobert Harris is an author whom I admire， but this is not his best novel。However， it gives a good picture of a little known enterprise。 The fictional element is rather flat， however。 And the ending is ironically a damp squib。

Tony Mac ，

After the experimental nature - and comparative failure - of ‘The Second Sleep’ this is a return to more familiar territory for Harris， and his writing seems more certain and confident as a result。As with ‘Munich’ he uses the narrative device of having German and British protagonists telling their story in alternate chapters。 The German hero being a male rocket engineer is no surprise， but the English WAAF officer heroine employed to calculate V2 launch sites is a different approach for Harris a After the experimental nature - and comparative failure - of ‘The Second Sleep’ this is a return to more familiar territory for Harris， and his writing seems more certain and confident as a result。As with ‘Munich’ he uses the narrative device of having German and British protagonists telling their story in alternate chapters。 The German hero being a male rocket engineer is no surprise， but the English WAAF officer heroine employed to calculate V2 launch sites is a different approach for Harris and brings a fresher perspective。While never particularly brilliant， this effort has more of Harris’s familiar assurance， his fiction dovetailing smoothly with the known facts of the V2 rockets that represented such a desperate gamble by the Nazis to turn the war。 It was a costly exercise in futility at the end of the day， carried out by reluctant scientists who had always been more interested in space exploration than mass destruction。 The irony is not lost on either the author or his German hero， and there’s a positive little coda at the end that gives hope for the future。 。。。more

Mike Jones ，

A very good read - I was gripped throughout。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=V2: A Novel of World War II

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=V2: A Novel of World War II&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,V2: A Novel of World War II&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0