I have just finished reading The Atrocity Archives written by Charles Stross and I have read Halting State a few months ago (and I preferred the latter, which may be logical since it is in fact newer), and I enjoyed both. But, I have a hard time convincing myself to recommend any to people around me for the simple fact that this is pure geek literature. If you thought Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon was as geek as it could be, just read those books. It’s not just geeky, it’s also so true (up to a certain point, but that’s the margin required for fiction) that it gave me a kind of déjà vu.

So without a certain knowledge or experience, some parts may be fully obscured, but it is otherwise well written and enjoyable.

This book is based on interviews of Franz Stangl who was the Kommandant of an extermination camp during the second world war. It also features many interviews and words from different people who crossed the life of this man: his wife, other german soldiers and jewish prisonners.

This is a very interesting book, telling us about how people felt and lived, and not just Stangl during this period. How he become what he was and what he could have done otherwise. This is also a really sad and serious book, because of the subject and how the different people were to go through this period of History.

Only bad point I would give to this book would be the large part about the catholic church and its behavior during the war. I understand Stangl escaped with help from people of the church, but I don’t think this deserved a full part in this book.