Word: trott
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Typical of the more questionable characters on the stage of the German resistance was Rhodes Scholar Adam von Trott zu Solz. Because of his vehement loyalty to Germany, many of Trott's English friends suspected him of being a Nazi...
...attempt to present Trott as a man worthy of the same admiration as his fellow resistance leaders, Giles MacDonogh has written a well-researched biography of this member of the lower nobility. MacDonogh succeeds in painting a convincing picture of Trott as a victim of misunderstandings and Anglo prejudice. Unfortunately, only those thoroughly interested in the history of World War II will have the stomach to read the entire work. It is informative, but is marred by tortured prose and lack of direction...
Good biographies and histories should capture the life and times of their subjects with the compelling voice of fiction. Although details about the origins of Trott's Hessian family (Hermann von Trott "became steward to a Hessian prince in 1253") may add something to our understanding of Trott's view of himself as a German, MacDonogh has trouble relating them to Trott's place in history. And if they add no compelling understanding of Trott, why provide the reader with such details...
...first chapters of the book focus dryly and abstractly upon events leading to Trott's birth in 1909 and his early years of schooling. He won a Rhodes in 1931, in part through the influence of his uncle, who had himself been a Rhodes Scholar...
...Trott grows to maturity and begins studying political philosophy, particularly that of Hegel, MacDonogh continues to snow us with seemingly irrelevant details. For example, MacDonogh mentions at one point that Trott fell in love with a German woman in the United States. But we learn none of the details of their affair, and she is never mentioned again...