Graham Hurley, author of The Blood of Others, really makes past events come to life. There are some deeply interesting characters in this part fact, part fiction blend which has at its heart Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid as it is sometimes called. A raid in which over half of a six thousand man strong contingent that landed on French soil were cut down. Apparently it was to test the feasability of a landing, put a bit of stick about and garner some sort of understanding of the strength and position of German gun emplacements. I must say, reading between the lines in Hurley's account, it was to show the Russians that we have skin in the game. As for gathering intelligence, surely with Dieppe being popular with artists and Brits before the war, it would have been better to have tried to secure some intelligence of our own before the carnage? Which leads me back to my earlier suspicion and would it have happened at all, if not for the Canadian sacrifice? It's a novel full of intrigue and shows the pecking order is the same now, as it was then.

Even if it's a fictional account it doesn't sugarcoat what was a massacre and how it failed to reach the goals.
This novel is gripping and show the senseless violence of the was. Told via fictional characters on both side it's gripping and tense.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This is a war story from an unusual angle. Exceedingly well researched, it deals with a disaster visited on Canadian troops in a badly planned raid in Dieppe. Usefully, it approaches the events from the viewpoint of France’s Nazi invaders as well as from the allied armies stance. The best bits of the book are centred on George Hogan, a young Canadian journalist who captures the attention of Lord Beaverbrook and is transferred to London. He meets a lot of famous names which adds interest to the book. A particularly attractive feature is that the book reveals things that went wrong in allied planning and shows how they were covered over to make them seem heroic. That is an important contribution to accurate history. If you like war books, this will please you.

Graham Hurley has given us another very fine World War II novel, this time about the ill-fated Allied invasion at Dieppe, France in August 1942.

The novel features two main characters. The first, George Hogan, is a young Canadian journalist whose talents so impress publisher (and Churchill confidante) Lord Beaverbrook that he brings George to London to report on the war. There, he meets and falls in love with Annie Wrenne, who works for Lord Louis Mountbatten, close to the Royal Family and head of ultra-secret Combined Operations, responsible for planning and carrying out the attack on Dieppe.

The second is Wilhelm Schultz, a former member of the “Brown Shirts” and current intelligence officer with Germany’s Abwehr. Assigned to Paris, he carries on a steamy affair with Odile, a queen of Parisian high society, while at the same time plotting to trick the Allies into invading at Dieppe, seemingly ill-defended by the Germans, but actually almost impregnable.

Through their eyes, we see both the English and German preparations for the Dieppe operation. We’re given a good understanding as to why the English decided to invade and especially the egos and politics behind the decision. We’re taken into the battle itself, are given glimpses of its bloody futility, and learn both the reasons and who was responsible for the mission's failure. It’s a part of the war I knew little about and I came away from the novel believing that I’d learned a good amount. I'd recommend "The Blood of Others" to anyone interested in London, Paris, and/or battles in Europe during WWII.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Graham Hurley, and publisher Head of Zeus for providing me with an electronic ARC. The foregoing is my honest, independent opinion.

A fictionalized account of the raid of Dieppe by Allied forces (mainly Canadian) in 1942 and its horrific outcome. Written from the viewpoint of two very different men, Schultz, a canny Abwehr officer and George Hogan, an idealistic Canadian reporter working for the Daily Express. The slow build-up to the raid did not prepare me for the sheer horror of the tragic disaster. Graham Hurley has written a competent war time thriller. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Great read about the disastrous landings in Dieppe during the second world war.
Fictional account from both the Canadian side via a journalist and from the german side in the form of an Abwehr intelligence officer.
Highlights how personalities and the need to succeed sometimes have disastrous consequences.
Couldn't put it down and felt drawn in to the intrigue, the battle of intelligence agencies and the lives of the participants.
Reminded me of books by Robert Harris but based on true events.

Graham Hurley is a master of his craft. This novel "The Blood of Others" continues the World War 2 theme. "The Spoils of War"series.
The story starts slowly which introduces us to characters similarly disconnected . Willi Schultz a Major with the Abwehr stationed in Paris and inspecting the Northern French defences. The other main character is George Hogan a Canadian newspaper reporter and war correspondent with the Daily Express and befriended by Lord Beaverbrook.
The story centres around an operation involving the Canadian army to storm a Northern French coastal town.
The planning is poorly conceived fronted by Louis Mountbatten who's enthusiasm for the operation seems to override any caution in the escapade. George Hogan's girlfriend Annie who works for Mountbatten and his Combined Ops warns George about the peril but he is placed in a very difficult position with the interests of the MI5 becoming involved.
Wonderful crafted novel ,I enjoyed every page. The horrors of war are laid bare here which we are now becoming only to familiar with .

Another in the Spoils of War series, Graham Hurley has written a well informed and detailed fictional account of the ill fated and disastrous allied mission to Dieppe seen through the eyes of protagonists from both sides of the war.

Exciting and full of excellently depicted characters this is a well crafted story that engrosses and entertains.