Historical fiction is my favorite genre. And stories set in the WWII era are my favorite. This one was a bit different from most others I’ve read. It follows Paul Brandt, a German soldier who has returned home after a devastating war injury. As one of the many men who were forced into serving, he has a lot to make amends for. He finds himself playing both sides of the field as he tries to keep the trust of the German soldiers around him while at the same time working to save anyone he can as things come closer to an end. This is a good story with lots of different layers. It’s a war story while also being a story about family and loyalty. A solid four stars!

The Constant Soldier is a beautifully written novel that captured my heart. I enjoy historical fiction, especially WWll, but this is told from the point of view that I have never heard before. From an SS soldier. His name is Paul Brandt and he is returning home wounded from fighting the Russians on the eastern front. He is, however, unsettled by what the German army has been doing to the jews and camp prisoners. So, when he sees his former love as a prisoner who is working at a “retreat camp” that caters to tired officers,he volunteers to work there.

There are some very raw, heartbreaking scenes that were hard to read. It was sickening to learn how men who were once against the monstrosities would end up participating to save their own lives. Brandt is courageous, though, and stays true to his conscience. He is being challenged in different ways while he is trying to save others. The other SS soldiers are suspicious of him while his own family is ashamed of him. The Germans are also hurrying to flee from incoming Russian military.

It is a very suspenseful story and I could not wait to see what would happen.

At the end of the book the author explains what compelled him to write the book and gives sources so you can read them too. I am looking forward to reading William Ryan’s other books.

Many thanks to Skyhorse publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

Talk about amazing!! I absolutely adored this book, many ww2 books tend to blend together but this is a stand out!

William Ryan’s “The Constant Soldier” sets itself apart from other World War II novels with its unusual setting, a rest-hut for German soldiers, where the protagonist, Paul Brandt, is sent, not to be ministered to for his own wounds, but to serve as a steward for SS officers, whom the hut is specifically intended for. To give them a break from the stresses of combat, Brandt is told, something he knows all too well about, having lost an arm and suffered other horrendous wounds in fighting on the Eastern Front. Not so appreciated are his sacrifices, though, by higher-ups, with how his military service came about because of a choice he was given – enlist or be sent to a camp – after he was caught distributing Resistance materials along with his lover, who, in an improbable turn of events, ends up imprisoned at the same place as Brandt. Improbable too, it seemed to me, that he was given the chance to enlist, rather than simply being sent straight-off to the camps, given the nature of his offense. A compelling read, nevertheless, Ryan’s novel, though not greatly different from others of the genre – except, as I say, for the unusualness of the setting, where the most interesting characters for me were not Brandt and his lover but the officer in charge of the rest hut, who is haunted to the point of visions by an act he once committed, and another officer recuperating at the hut who displays a sardonic sense of humor born of his own experiences in the war.