Princess Fuzzypants here: This is the fascinating story of a man whose greatest feats were often behind closed doors and in the dark recesses of power. As a young Canadian scholar studying in Germany at the outbreak of WWI he was detained for the entire war in a concentration camp that was different from any other before or after. He had access to some of the finest minds and a ringside seat to see how the German public perceived what was going on. When they were defeated, they could not fathom the vitriol that was heaped on them by the victors. And from the ashes of their humiliation, dark forces that had been there long before, started to take hold.

Winthrop Bell was the one man who saw this and who exhaustively researched and pulled together the information that, had the powers that be followed his suggestions, might have thwarted the Nazis and prevented WWII. It would have required the will and the mindset that the vengeful victors were unwilling to accept. As is the prevailing belief, the foundations for the next war were found in the detritus of the first one. Bell saw that and like Cassandra he warned all who would listen. But often his words were dismissed as being too far out. And often they were kept secret from the public. Few could fathom that the Holocaust was articulated clearly in Nazi papers as far back as 1919. It was beyond their ken.

It was interesting to read some of the recommendations Bell made after WWI that became part of what occurred after WWII in particular, The Marshall Plan. It is also interesting to read about the attempts that Bell made to make the decision makers listen. How different might the twentieth century have been had enough people had the wisdom to take note.

When I first started the book I thought I would read about a cryptographer who busted the cryptic codes. Instead it is a story of one of the few men who could read the tea leaves and figure out what it meant. We could use someone like that today. His life should be required reading for all Canadians. He was amazing. Five purrs and two paws up.