Officer and a Spy (Harris) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Robert Harris, in his fine novel An Officer and a Spy, lucidly retells the famous, bizarrely complicated and chilling story.… Drawing on the vast trove of books about the [Dreyfus] affair and some newly available materials, Harris tells a gripping tale.
Louis Begley - New York Times Book Review


(Starred review.) [E]asily the best fictional treatment of the Dreyfus Affair yet, in this gripping thriller told from the vantage point of French army officer Georges Picquart.... Picquart pursues the truth, at personal and professional risk.... Harris perfectly captures the rampant anti-Semitism that led to Dreyfus’s scapegoating, and effectively uses the present tense to lend intimacy to the narrative.
Publishers Weekly


Maj. Georges Picquart, a rising star in the French military circa 1895....is a fascinating protagonist and narrator, personally flawed but determined to pursue the truth even when government resistance threatens his career, his life, and everyone around him. His story draws an uncomfortable parallel to current events; as Valerie Plame, Edward Snowden, and Julian Assange can attest, 21st-century governments still resent troublemakers who reveal embarrassing truths. —Bradley Scott, Corpus Christie, TX
Library Journal


Col. Georges Picquart...begins to have doubts about [Drefus's] guilt and is fairly sure espionage is continuing.... [But] much of the population, inflamed by the popular press, already sees Dreyfus as a traitor and delights in conveying their virulent anti-Semitism. Espionage, counterespionage, a scandalous trial, a coverup and a man who tries to do right make this a complex and alluring thriller.
Kirkus Reviews