Reads like a thriller . . . Written in a pacey, suspenseful present tense, it's biography with a pulse . . . a superb, sure-footed work of historical detection conceived with a powerful intelligence - Sunday Times

A beautifully rich portrait of a very brave woman. While never less than scrupulously researched, this biography explodes the genre of "biography": experimental but achieved, Donner's story reads with the speed of a thriller, the depth of a novel and the urgency of an essay, like some deeply compelling blend of Alan Furst and W.G. Sebald -- JAMES WOOD

Astonishing . . . wilder and more expansive than a standard-issue biography . . . a real-life thriller with a cruel ending - New York Times

Written in a fizzing present tense, the book in places reads like a spy novel . . . Donner writes in beautiful, crisp prose (like her great-great-aunt, as quotes from Mildred's letters reveal) . . . The result is a work that transports us to a period now slipping from living memory but that contains vital lessons for our own time - Herald

A tour de force of investigation . . . gripping - Economist

A thrilling and inspiring book. It is a treasure trove for lovers of biography, new writing and the history of the Third Reich - Scotsman

A stunning literary achievement. Rebecca Donner forges a new kind of biography - almost novelistic in style and tone, this scholarly work resurrects the courageous life of Mildred Harnack. A relentless sleuth in the archives, Donner has written a page-turner story of espionage, love and betrayal -- KAI BIRD, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

A lively read . . . Mildred Harnack has received proper recognition at last - Financial Times

Pacey . . . an impressive piecing together of fragments . . . a memorial to Mildred Harnack - Spectator

Donner recreates her great-great-aunt's epic tale in a gorgeous collage of history and family lore, a revelatory window onto a Götterdämmerung that transformed the world forever - Oprah Daily