Hans Hellmut Kirst

Hans Hellmut Kirst (December 5, 1914 - February 13, 1989) was a distinguished German author.

Related Topics:
December 5 - 1914 - February 13 - 1989 - Author

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Kirst wrote many books which have been translated into English. He is best known for Die Nacht der Generale: Roman, which was translated as The Night of the Generals. The book was made into successful 1967 film, with the same name.

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Kirst, a World War II veteran, wrote other novels about the corruption of Germany and its armed forces by Nazism.

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Kirst's series of Gunner Asch books follows the career of a soldier from before World War II, to the Eastern Front, and finally to post-war German. They were published in English as:

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• The Revolt of Gunner Asch
• Forward, Gunner Asch!
• Return of Gunner Asch
• What Became of Gunner Asch

At the end of the war, Asch was a lieutenant as Kirst was.

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Die letzte Karte spielt der Tod is an excellent fictional account of the life of Soviet spy Richard Sorge. That book was published in English as The Last Card (New York: Pyramid Publications, Inc., 1967) and Death Plays the Last Card (London: Fontana, 1968).

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Kirst also wrote a series of detective novels set in Munich in the 1960s. Those books were published in English translations as Damned to Success (and also as A Time for Scandal), A Time for Truth, and Everything has a Price.

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