Corporal Hitler's Pistol is a 2021 historical novel by the Australian author Thomas Keneally.[1]
| Author | Thomas Keneally |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Vintage |
Publication date | 31 August 2021 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 352 pp. |
| ISBN | 9781760893224 |
| Preceded by | The Dickens Boy |
| Followed by | Fanatic Heart |
Synopsis
editThe novel is set in the northern New South Wales town of Kempsey in 1933, where an old German-Australian, Bert Webber, is rumoured to be in possession of Adolph Hitler's pistol from World War I. When Bert sees Hitler on a newsreel at the local cinema he has a fit and is taken to a psychiatric hospital in Sydney. Hitler's pistol is then used to kill an ex-IRA member on a local farm.
Critical reception
editWriting in The Guardian reviewer Susan Wyndham described the book as "a rollicking historical crime thriller", before noting that the author displays a "mastery of narrative technique in a series of cinematic set pieces that propel the story forward while intimately developing the characters."[2]
Awards
edit- 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize - Adult, winner[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Corporal Hitler's Pistol by Thomas Keneally (Vintage 2021)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ Wyndham, Susan (23 September 2021). ""Corporal Hitler's Pistol by Tom Keneally review"". The Guardian. The Guardian, 24 September 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ ""The 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize"". Historical Novel Society Australasia. Retrieved 28 October 2024.