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We will check them at first and add them in this list to benefit our readers. Iris Yan joined Epubor since She always wants to share everything related to ebook reading and improve your reading journey. Alexander, in the championship of the City of London Chess Club in the winter of Sir George Thomas' notes are in brackets and thus will be distinguished from my own comments.

The notes within brackets by Sir George Thomas. White: Mr. Black: Sir George Thomas. There are, besides, two good reasons for this method of defence; first, that it is not as much played as some of the other defences and consequently not so well known, and second that it leaves Black with two Bishops against B and Kt, which, in a general way, constitutes an advantage.

This is not the logical place for the B which should have been posted at Q 3. In the opening, time is of great importance, and therefore the player should be extremely careful in his development and make sure that he posts his pieces in the right places. The same result could be accomplished by playing B - Q 3. Incidentally it bears out my previous statement that the B should have been originally played to Q 3.

This is a turning point in the game, and it is in such positions that the temperament and style of the player decide the course of the game. White might play 15 K R - Q 1, keeping the option of breaking up the centre later on. I wanted him to advance this P as there is now a fine post for my B at Q B 4.

By this move White shows that he does not understand the true value of his position. His only advantage consisted in the undeveloped condition of Black's Q B. He should therefore have made a plan to prevent the B from coming out, or if that were not possible, then he should try to force Black to weaken his Pawn position in order to come out with the B.

Thus by playing P - K R 3 White would have attained the desired object. The text move blocks the action of the White B and facilitates Black's development. Hereafter White will act on the defensive, and the interest throughout the rest of the game will centre mainly on Black's play and the manner in which he carries out the attack. This seems wrong, as it makes the development of Black's Queen wing easier.

But it only compels Black to bring his B to Q B 4, which he would do in any case. It would have been better, probably, to play K R - K 1, with the idea of P - B 4 presently. Black's play hereabout is weak; it lacks force, and there seems to be no well-defined plan of attack. It is true that these are the most difficult positions to handle in a game.

In such cases a player must conceive a plan on a large scale, which promises chances of success, and with it all, it must be a plan that can be carried out with the means at his disposal.

From the look of the position it seems that Black's best chance would be to mass his forces for an attack against White's centre, to be followed by a direct attack against the King. If White is able to defeat this plan, or rather to prevent it, then, once he has fixed some of the White pieces on the King's side, he should quickly shift his attack to the Queen's side, and open a line for his Rooks, which, once they enter in action, should produce an advantage on account of the great power of the two Bishops.

I thought this exchange necessary here, as White is threatening to play his Bishop via Kt 4 to K 6. If he retook with the Bishop's Pawn I intended to exchange Bishops and rely on the two Pawns to one on the Queen's wing. I did not expect him to retake it with the King's Pawn, which seemed to expose him to a violent King's side attack. Black's judgment in this instance I believe to be faulty. Had White retaken with the B P, as he expected, he would have had the worst of the Pawn position, as White would have had a passed Pawn well supported on the Queen's side.

I do not like this move. It would have been better to hold it in reserve and to have played P - B 4, to be followed in due time by P - K Kt 4 and P - B 5, after having placed the Q at Q 2, K B 2, or some other square as the occasion demanded.

The text move blocks the action of the powerful B at Q B 4, and tends to make White's position safer than it should have been. The move in itself is a very strong attacking move, but it is isolated, and there is no effective continuation. Such advances as a rule should only be made when they can be followed by a concerted action of the pieces. R - R 3 was the alternative. White's only move would have been K - R 1.

The position now is evidently won for Black, and it is only a question of finding the right course. The final attack is now carried on by Sir George Thomas in an irreproachable manner. White therefore protects his Rook. I leave the variations for the student to work out. Making a double attack on the Rook—which still cannot be taken—and preparing to defend the K R P. If either the Rook or Bishop are taken White would be mated in a few moves.

Black therefore tries to get the Queen away from the defence. A very beautiful move, and the best way to carry on the attack. We must now revert once more to the endings.

Their importance will have become evident to the student who has taken the trouble to study my game with Janowski Example After an uneventful opening—a Ruy Lopez—in one of its normal variations, my opponent suddenly made things interesting by offering the exchange; an offer which, of course, I accepted. Finally, there came the time when I could give back the material and change off most of the pieces, and come to an ending in which I clearly had the advantage.

But yet the ending itself was not as simple as it at first appeared, and finally—perhaps through one weak move on my part—it became a very difficult matter to find a win.

Had I been a weak end-game player the game would probably have ended in a draw, and all my previous efforts would have been in vain.

Unfortunately, that is very often the case among the large majority of players; they are weak in the endings; a failing from which masters of the first rank are at times not free. Lasker had no superiors in this department of the game while they held their titles. I have previously stated, when speaking about general theory, that at times the way to win consists in attacking first on one side, then, granted greater mobility of the pieces, to transfer the attack quickly from one side to the other, breaking through before your opponent has been able to bring up sufficient forces to withstand the attack.

This principle of the middle-game can sometimes be applied in the endings in somewhat similar manner. The idea, as will be seen very soon, is to play P - R 5 in order to fix White's King's side Pawns with a view to the future. It is evident to Black that White wants to bring his King to Q Kt 3 to support his two weak isolated Pawns, and thus to free his Rooks. Black, therefore, makes a plan to shift the attack to the King's side at the proper time, in order to obtain some advantage from the greater mobility of his Rooks.

A serious mistake, which loses quickly. White should have played 8 K - Kt 3, when Black would have answered The full score and notes of the game can be found in the book of the tournament. White's only advantage in the above position is that he possesses the open file and has the move, which will secure him the initiative.

What this means in general theory has been stated already; it really means: keep harassing the enemy; force him to use his big pieces to defend Pawns.

If he has a weak point, try to make it weaker, or create another weakness somewhere else and his position will collapse sooner or later. If he has a weakness, and he can get rid of it, make sure that you create another weakness somewhere else.

Black wants to bring his King to the centre of the board in order to be nearer to whatever point White decides to attack. The move is justified at least on the general rule that in such endings the King should be in the middle of the board. He does nothing after all but follow White's footsteps. Besides, it is hard to point out anything better.

This move has a manifold object. It practically fixes all of Black's Pawns except the Q P, which is the only one that can advance two squares. By this threat it practically forces Black to play P - Q 4, which is all White desires, for reasons that will soon become evident.

R - K 4; 11 R - R 6, and Black's game is hopeless. Apparently very strong, since it forces the exchange of Rooks because of the threat R - R 3; but in reality it leads to nothing. The best chance was to play R - K K 1. Up to now White had played with finesse, but this last move is weak. Again a bad move. Black misses his only chance. R - Kt 1 would have drawn. He goes back with the King to support his K P, and thus be able to utilise his Rook.

It is, however, useless, and only White's weak play later on gives him further chances of a draw. He can do nothing but wait for White. The text move stops White from moving his Rook, but only for one move. A weak move, which gives Black a fighting chance. In this ending, as is often the case with most players, White plays the best moves whenever the situation is difficult and requires careful handling, but once his position seems to be overwhelming he relaxes his efforts and the result is nothing to be proud of.

The right move was 28 R - Kt 7. The reader must bear in mind that my opponent was then a very young and inexperienced player, and consequently deserves a great deal of credit for the fight he put up. R - Kt 7 ch; followed by R - K R 7, offered better chances. This ending shows how easy it is to make weak moves, and how often, even in master-play, mistakes are made and opportunities are lost.

It shows that, so long as there is no great advantage of material, even with a good position, a player, no matter how strong, cannot afford to relax his attention even for one move. It is evident that Marshall White is under great difficulties in the above position. Not only is he bound to lose a Pawn, but his position is rather poor. The best he could hope for was a draw unless something altogether unexpected happened, as it did. No reason can be given for Black's loss of the game except that he felt so certain of having the best of it with a Pawn more and what he considered a safe position, that he became exceedingly careless and did not consider the danger that actually existed.

Let us see how it happened. The mistakes begin. This is the first. Black sees that he can take a Pawn without any danger, and does not stop to think whether there is anything better.

R - B 7 ch was the right move. Mistake number two, and this time such a serious one as to almost lose the game. The proper move was to play P - B 4 in order to break up White's Pawns and at the same time make room for the Black King, which is actually in danger, as will soon be seen. Mistake number three and this time fatal.

His best move was R Kt 4 - R 4. After the text move there is no defence. Black's game is lost. This shows that even an apparently simple ending has to be played with care. From a practically won position Black finds himself with a lost game, and it has only taken three moves.

The reason is evident. The reader has probably realised by this time that endings of two Rooks and Pawns are very difficult, and that the same holds true for endings of one Rook and Pawns. Endings of two Rooks and Pawns are not very common in actual play; but endings of one Rook and Pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board.

Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate.

In this position Marshall had a simple win by R - B 7 ch, but played P - B 6, and thereby gave Black a chance to draw. Luckily for him Black did not see the drawing move, played poorly, and lost. Had Black been up to the situation he would have drawn by playing R - Q 3. We have therefore:. If there were nothing more in the ending it would not be of any great value, but there are other very interesting features.

Let us examine them. Now, going back to the position shown on page , suppose that after 1 P - B 6, R - Q 3; 2 R - B 7 ch, Black did not realise that K - Q 5 was the only move to draw, and consequently played K - Kt 3 instead, we would then have the following position:.

This position we have arrived at is won by White, because there are two files between the opposing King and the Pawn from which the King is cut off by the Rook, and besides, the Pawn can advance to the fourth rank before the opponent's Rook can begin to check on the file.

Now that we have explained the reasons why this position is won, we leave it to the student to work out the correct solution. The fact that out of one apparently simple ending we have been able to work out several most unusual and difficult endings should be sufficient to impress upon the student's mind the necessity of becoming well acquainted with all kinds of endings, and especially with endings of Rook and Pawns.

Following our idea that the best way to learn endings as well as openings is to study the games of the masters, we give two more endings of two Rooks and Pawns.

These endings, as already stated, are not very common, and the author is fortunate in having himself played more of these endings than is generally the case. By carefully comparing and studying the endings already given Examples 56 and 57 with the following, the student no doubt can obtain an idea of the proper method to be followed in such cases. The way of procedure is somewhat similar in all of them. It is Black's move, and no doubt thinking that drawing such a position that was all Black played for would be easy, he contented himself with a waiting policy.

Such conduct must always be criticised. It often leads to disaster. The best way to defend such positions is to assume the initiative and keep the opponent on the defensive. The first move is already wrong. There is nothing to gain by this move.

That would fix the Queen's side. After that he could decide what demonstration he could make with his Rooks to keep the opponent's Rooks at bay. White, however, does not want to disclose his plan at once, and thus awaken Black to the danger of his position, hence this move, which seems to aim at the disruption of Black's Queen's side Pawns.

This is a mistake. Black is unaware of the danger of his position. This in itself condemns his last move K - K 3, which has done nothing but make his situation practically hopeless. Now forced, but it is a little too late. He could not play Black now finally awakens to the danger, and tries to save the day by the counter-demonstration on the King's side, which he should have started before.

Black is now in a very disagreeable position. If he played He practically would have to play That would make it impossible for his King to go to Q 2, because of the Q R P, nor could he advance a single one of his Pawns.

Black meanwhile could really do nothing but mark time with one of his Rooks. Compare this bottling-up system with the ending in Example 57, and it will be seen that it is very similar. Probably wrong. P - Kt 4 at once was the right move. The text move gives Black good chances of drawing. Not good. If then Black misses his last chance. P - B 5 would draw. R Kt 7 - Kt 2 would have offered greater resistance, but the position is lost in any case. I leave the student to work this out.

Nothing would avail. It is on this fact that White builds his plans. It will be seen that this plan was carried out during the course of the game, and that White obtained his winning advantage in that way. The play was based throughout on the chance of obtaining a passed Pawn on the King's file, with which White expected to win. White, however, also prevents this.

He still wants to play P - Q B 4, but as it is easy to foresee that White will again prevent it, the text move is really a serious loss of time. Black should bring his King over to the other side immediately. The first part of White's strategic plan is now accomplished. Black's Pawns on the Queen's side are fixed for all practical purposes.

Yet it might have been the best chance for Black. The second part of White's strategical plan is now accomplished. It remains to find out if the advantage obtained is sufficient to win.

White not only has a passed Pawn, but his King is in a commanding position in the centre of the board ready to support the advance of White's Pawns, or, if necessary, to go to Q B 5, or to move to the right wing in case of danger. Besides, White holds the open file with one of his Rooks. Altogether White's position is superior and his chances of winning are excellent.

Also Black fears to keep his Rook in front of his two King's side Pawns which he may want to utilise later. White threatens P - R 5, which would finally force Black to take, and then White would double his Rooks against the isolated Pawn and win it, or tie up Black's Rooks completely.

The text move, however, only helps White; therefore Black had nothing better than to hold tight and wait. The student should carefully study these variations.

K - Q 2 would not help much, but since he made the previous move he should now be consistent and play it. The winning tactics in all these endings have merely consisted in keeping the opponent's Rooks tied to the defence of one or more Pawns, leaving my own Rooks free for action.

This is a general principle which can be equally applied to any part of the game. It means in general terms—. There is one more thing of great importance, and that is that the winning side has always had a general strategical plan capable of being carried out with the means at his disposal, while often the losing side had no plan at all, but simply moved according to the needs of the moment.

We shall now examine an ending of Rook, Bishop and Pawns against Rook, Knight and Pawns, where it will be seen that the Rook at times is used in the same way as in the endings already given.

In this position it is Black's move. To a beginner the position may look like a draw, but the advanced player will realise immediately that there are great possibilities for Black to win, not only because he has the initiative, but because of White's undeveloped Queen's side and the fact that a Bishop in such a position is better than a Knight see Section It will take some time for White to bring his Rook and Knight into the fray, and Black can utilise it to obtain an advantage.

There are two courses open to him. The most evident, and the one that most players would take, is to advance the Pawn to Q B 4 and Q B 5 immediately in conjunction with the Bishop check at R 3 and any other move that might be necessary with the Black Rook.

The other, and more subtle, course was taken by Black. Note that the White Knight's sphere of action is very limited, and that after Kt - Q 2 White's own Pawns are in his way. This check accomplishes nothing. It merely drives Black's King where it wants to go. Consequently it is a very bad move.

P - Q R 3 at once was the best move. Getting ready to shift the attack to the Queen's side, where he has the advantage in material and position. Merely to exhaust White's move, which will finally force him to move either the King or the Knight. There is also the square at White's Q B 5, which is controlled by White, and from where a White piece once established could not be dislodged.

In order to get rid of it, Black would have to exchange it, which is not always an easy matter, and often when possible not at all convenient. Such Pawn formations invariably lead to disaster, and consequently must be avoided.

Such a formation of Pawn occurs in the French Defence. This in substance might be said to be a determined attack against White's centre in order to paralyse the direct attack of White against Black's King. It must be remembered that at the beginning of the book it was stated that control of the centre was an essential condition to a successful attack against the King. In an abstract way we may say that two or more Pawns are strongest when they are in the same rank next to one another.

Thus the centre Pawns are strongest in themselves, so to speak, when placed at K 4 and Q 4 respectively, hence the question of advancing either the one or the other to the fifth rank is one that must be most carefully considered. The advance of either Pawn often determines the course the game will follow. Another thing to be considered is the matter of one or more passed Pawns when they are isolated either singly or in pairs.

We might say that a passed Pawn is either very weak or very strong, and that its weakness or strength, whichever happens to be in the case to be considered, increases as it advances, and is at the same time in direct relation to the number of pieces on the board.

In this last respect it might be generally said that a passed Pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes. Having all this clear in mind we will now revert to the openings and middle-game. We will analyse games carefully from beginning to end according to general principles.

I shall, whenever possible, use my own games, not because they will better illustrate the point, but because, knowing them thoroughly, I shall be able to explain them more authoritatively than the games of others.

So far a very well-known variation of the Ruy Lopez. In fact, they are the moves of the Janowski-Lasker game in Paris, Let us suppose the game went on, and that in some way White, by playing one of the Knights to Q 4 at the proper time, forced the exchange of both Knights, and then afterwards both the Bishops were exchanged, and we arrived at some such position as shown in the following diagram.

I obtained such a position in a very similar way once at Lodz in Poland. I was playing the White pieces against a consulting team headed by Salwe. Now we would have here the case of the backward Q B P, which will in no way be able to advance to Q B 4. Such a position may be said to be theoretically lost, and in practice a first-class master will invariably win it from Black.

If I may be excused the reference, I will say that I won the game above referred to. The Black pieces can be said to be fixed. Thus Black can only move according to White's lead, and under such conditions White can easily advance with his Pawns to K B 4 and K Kt 4, until Black will be forced to stop P - B 5 by playing P - K B 4, and we might finally have some such position as this:.

Now suppose that in the position in the preceding diagram it were Black's move, and he played R - K B 1. White might even be able to obtain the following position:. I have purposely given positions without the moves which lead to them so that the student may become accustomed to build up in his own mind possible positions that may arise out of any given situation. Thus he will learn to make strategical plans and be on his way to the master class.

The student can derive enormous benefit by further practice of this kind. The influence of a so-called "hole" in a game has already been illustrated in my game against Blanco page 81 , where has been shown the influence exercised by the different pieces posted in the hole created at White's K 5.

Queen's Gambit Declined. White: D. Black: A. The Knight at Kt 3 does nothing except to prevent the development of his own Q B.

For a beautiful illustration of how to play White in that variation, see the Janowski-Rubinstein game of the St. Petersburg Tournament of B - Kt 3 has some points in its favour in this position, the most important being the possibility of advancing the King's Pawn immediately after 8.

As White's King's Bishop should never be exchanged in this opening without a very good reason White therefore cannot play P - K 4. The fact that Black is practically forced to make this move in order to avoid the loss of a Pawn is sufficient reason in itself to condemn the whole system of development on Black's part. In fact, it is hard to see how this Bishop will ever be able to attack anything.

Besides, it can be easily seen that White will soon post his two Knights at K 5 and Q B 5 respectively, and that Black will not be able to dislodge them without seriously weakening his game, if he can do it at all. In such cases, the less the number of pieces on the board, the better chances there are to escape. This practically amounts to committing suicide, since it creates a hole at K 5 for White's Knight, from where it will be practically impossible to dislodge him.

If Black intended to make such a move he should have done it before, when at least there would have been an object in preventing the White Knight from reaching B 5. The position of White's Knights, especially the one at K 5, might be said to be ideal, and a single glance shows how they dominate the position. The question henceforth will be how is White going to derive the full benefit from such an advantageous situation, This we shall soon see.

There is no object in this move, unless it is to be followed by Kt - Q 2. As that is not the case, he might have gone with the Rook to B 1, as he does later. White threatened to win the exchange by playing either Kt - B 7 or Kt - Kt 4. Perhaps all these precautions are unnecessary, but White feels that he has more than enough time to prepare his attack, and wants to be secure in every way before he begins.

Kt - Q 2 was better in order to get rid of one of the two White Knights. All these moves are practically forced, and as it is easily seen they tie up Black's position more and more. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of pages and is available in Mass Market Paperback format. The main characters of this fiction, historical story are ,. The book has been awarded with , and many others. Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator.

We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you. The courtroom scenes are when this book comes alive, but they only get started around page , which is more than halfway in. The pages until then are spent developing the background of the two principal characters. Both are thoroughly unlikeable, and the outcome is, sadly, very predictable. No nuances, no depth. A minor point of annoyance: The use of all capital letters to depict interior monologue managed to pretty well drive me crazy.

Entire chapters of capital letters are near unreadable, and by the end of the book, I would more or less skip those sections. This was my first Leon Uris novel, Mila 18 is next, I hope it's better.

View all 4 comments. Jun 30, Rodger rated it did not like it. This has been on my to read list for a long time. I was totally disappointed in it. It was a contrived situation to give Uris opportunity for a sermon. The situation could be compared to OJ Simpson bringing suit against the Goldman family for defaming him, while knowing all the time he was guilty.

I don't think that will happen. Neither do I think a war criminal would go to court to clear his name because of an obscur paragraph in a book mentioning someone with the same last name. A guilty man w This has been on my to read list for a long time. A guilty man would just let the sleeping dog lie. It is another reminder however of the terrible atrocities inflicted upon the world by the Nazis.

Would that we had learned a lasting lesson about how evil humanity can become. View 2 comments. Sep 22, Tamar I loved this author It is based on a real-life libel case against Uris himself, when in he was sued by Dr.

Wladislaw Dering. Dering had sued the writer over claims made in his earlier novel Exodus that he had been involved in medical experiments in Auschwitz. The topic in question is about the sterilization experiments that were performed mainly upon the Jews and at times, others that took place in the fictional Jadwiga Concentrat QB VII Queen's Bench Court 7 is a courtroom drama set in London in The topic in question is about the sterilization experiments that were performed mainly upon the Jews and at times, others that took place in the fictional Jadwiga Concentration Camp in Europe during the Second World War, making them the human guinea pigs.

The book has been very well-written, considering the complete structure required to form a certain lawsuit with an issue as big as this.

It deals very well with emotions, and is graphic at times whenever has been necessary in terms of brutalities when afflicted upon, within descriptions. The first half of the book is dedicated to the life-stories of the plaintiff and the defendant, before the lawsuit takes place. This has provided a good characterization, for the reader to understand both the parties involved. Nearly the entire second half of the book then takes place in the courtroom.

It brings out one of those areas of the Holocaust, which has caused a lot of pain to the survivors who have gone through this, and which the newer generation, I personally feel, should be exposed to at some point, so as to avoid bringing such times ever again.

S: It can be difficult to stomach the core content of this book, if one has no knowledge of what happened in the Holocaust at all. Also, best recommended for psychologically matured readers, yet I feel we all should know what has happened barely just more than seventy years ago. View all 6 comments.

Jul 09, Annie rated it really liked it. After he was tried and found not guilty he fled to remote jungle village with his family to escape what he claimed were the Jews and communists trying to discredit him as a doctor.

During his time in hiding the book The Holocaust, was written by the acclaimed author Abe Cady. In it he wrote that Kelno had performed thousands of inappropriate surgeries. Kelno was infuriated that his name again be tarnished and he sued Cady and his publisher for libel untrue statement under the demand that he be paid for this untrue discredit and the books no longer be published.

However, it was more of an experiment of mass sterilization of the Jews. It was also discovered through witnesses and a medical record that was uncovered at the very end of the book that Kelno used improper anesthetic procedures as failing to sterilize himself and his instruments between the surgeries that he performed with unsafe speed. This resulted with infections and discomfort to the victims for the rest of their lives, not to mention the face that they could no longer reproduce.

Therefore, the jury came up with the verdict that Kelno would not be paid for the discredit he claimed The Holocaust had inflicted on him. No only did this decision uncover the brutality that Kelno had hid all those years, but it also stood as a small payment to those Jews that were victims of these inhumane crimes.

I really enjoyed this book- it is an older book recommended by my parents. But the last third of the book was all about the trial and was sooo good, that it made up for the slow portion. The main thing that I will take from this book is the theme that even though it may be hard to fathom, inhumanity can occur, as it did in the holocaust and people are capable of being pushed to do extreme things, the unimaginable, in unordinary circumstances such as these.

We have polluted our planet, and the creates who live on it. I swear to God, and we have destroyed each other. And after this civilization we are living in destroys itself, it will all start up again in a few hundred million years when the planet has all its messes cleaned up. Then, finally, one of these civilizations, say five billion years from now, will last for eternity because people will treat each other the way they ought to.

Shelves: historical-fiction , fiction , pessimism , holocaust , war , jewish. Warning: raw pessimism ahead. So, this is a fairly unique read. Quick, how many Holocaust-related courtroom dramas can you think of?

Okay, Judgment at Nuremberg? Was that a book in addition to being a movie? I'll allow it. The point is, there aren't that many. This is one of those serious books that nevertheless has a touch of playfulness, if only in the kind of narrative magic trick being pulled.

You first get a depiction of Dr. Adam Kelno as a pretty cool guy. Hey, he's a Polish doctor. What Warning: raw pessimism ahead. What, he's wrongfully accused of sterilizing people against their will? That's no fun.

Must be a Communist plot like he's saying. Two years stuck in an English prison, yikes. Self-imposed exile in Sarawak? Well alright. The story initially moves at a crazy kind of breakneck pace where you're getting a lot of events in remarkably few pages.

Leon Uris also switches between summary and scene, and vice versa, more seamlessly than almost any other author I can name.

You'll be reading a scene and then, bang, one sentence later that's over and years have passed. It's a little insane. Okay, then you get a depiction of a Jewish writer quite obviously a stand-in for Uris himself named Abraham Cady, who's written a book titled, sternly, The Holocaust , which makes a very small but crucial mention of Kelno as a being the doctor at the Jadwiga concentration camp.

Yes, the one who was doing all those thousands of forced ovariectomies a word I totally use every day and testicular subtractions.

This results in Kelno suing him for libel, and we get the drawn-out courtroom drama that forms both the crux and the climax of the story. So, what's the magic trick? It's that shifting depiction of Kelno. I was fooled. Yet there were subtle and not-so-subtle hints dropped along the way that make the reader re-think what they may have believed at first.

He begins to seem increasingly paranoid and anti-semitic and, frankly, damaged. There's one unintentionally hilarious section regarding the genesis of his childhood hatred for his father and his father's, uh, junk.

There's also a nice, gasp-inducing, double-reversal moment during the outcome of the trial. Long story short, this is an effective tale. What appealed to me on a personal, philosophical level, however, was the pessimism that bled into, and ought to bleed into, any novel with the holocaust as a backdrop. How can anyone continue to believe in the 'nobility' of the human race after the 20th century's most monstrous crime? It reminded me, by contrast, of the untrammeled 19th century optimism Victor Hugo betrays in Les Miserables, where he predicts that the 20th century will be free of war and poverty and crime simply because there'll be the "light!

Although I still consider that book a masterpiece, its author was obviously misguided in that particular belief. Sorry to say, but the lesson of the 20th century and our current, slow-motion global catastrophe seems to be that civilization is a failed evolutionary experiment. Making apes smarter was a dead end. Fun while it lasted, sure, but we're going down in flames. Nov 06, Jaksen rated it it was amazing.

For a book which details how a person will respond to evil, there is nothing better. Adam Kelno, well-known, knighted, accomplished, a brilliant doctor who once worked in a Polish concentration camp, has been libeled by a writer. Accused of performing 'unnecessary' surgeries on hundreds of concentration camp inmates, he retaliates with a lawsuit.

Abraham Cady, writer of both great fiction and trashy is the accuser.