SS-GB

SS-GB is an alternate history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom conquered and occupied by Germany during World War II.

Related Topics:
Alternate history - Len Deighton - United Kingdom - Germany - World War II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Douglas Archer is a British homicide detective assigned to Scotland Yard in November 1941, nine months after the British surrender. He is torn between loyalty to his country and his professional commitment to law enforcement. He begins investigating what seems to be a typical murder case in London, but which finally involves him in the highest levels of the Nazi occupation government.

Related Topics:
Homicide - Detective - Scotland Yard - 1941 - London

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The book provides relatively few details on how the Germans actually invaded and defeated Britain in Operation Sea Lion. However, Deighton posits that, after conquering Britain, Adolf Hitler did not invade the Soviet Union. As a gesture of comradeship, Hitler permits the remains of Karl Marx to be disinterred from London's Highgate Cemetery for reinterment in Moscow. Other changes to history as we know it are the imprisonment of King George VI in the Tower of London under SS guard, until the British Resistance arranges for his escape; the execution of Winston Churchill by a Luftwaffe firing squad in Berlin after his capture; the establishment of a Vichy France-style puppet regime in Britain; and the operation of a Wehrmacht atomic-bomb research station at Bringle Sands, a British resort town.

Related Topics:
Operation Sea Lion - Adolf Hitler - Soviet Union - Karl Marx - Highgate Cemetery - Moscow - King George VI - Tower of London - SS - Winston Churchill - Luftwaffe - Berlin - Vichy France - Wehrmacht

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Heinrich Himmler, Reichsfuhrer-SS, makes a brief appearance. Institutional conflict between the various organizations of the Nazi regime, particularly between the SS and the Wehrmacht, and the austerity and hopelessness of Britain under occupation, are major themes of the book.

Related Topics:
Heinrich Himmler - Reichsfuhrer-SS - SS - Wehrmacht

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SS-GB is regarded as one of the finest alternate history books about World War II. Robert Harris's later Fatherland is often compared to it.

Related Topics:
Alternate history - Fatherland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~