The story of a brave, driven man, doing the best he can."The Fire Agent" is the story of Ernst Baerwald, a German Jew, a musician and linguist who is recruited as a spy and whose exploits span the world wars and a large part of the globe. It's a story of intrigue, subterfuge, deception, manipulation and also of difficult choices. Baerwald's adventures take him from Germany to Italy to Japan. encountering politicians, gangsters and more than a few women. It spans the years from before WW1 to the early Cold War days and paints a man with a rock-solid character, driven by the need to do then right thing, even at the cost of his own happiness. It's sad to witness his early eagerness and ambition turn to despair and even fear.The author, David Baerwald, is Ernst's grandson, and he has clearly carried out a large amount of research to present this grandfather's story as factually as possible. Mainly, the book reads like a thriller, but is populated with real-life characters and situations. We witness concentration camps, earthquakes and worse. However, it's a detail-heavy read, and often plunges into the realms of a dry term-paper or dissertation, and it will take a dedicated reader not to skip some of the denser chapters.Overall it's a rewarding read if you stick with it, but at over 600 pages, it's not a beach read.

"The Fire Agent" is the story of Ernst Baerwald, a German Jew, a musician and linguist who is recruited as a spy and whose exploits span the world wars and a large part of the globe. It's a story of intrigue, subterfuge, deception, manipulation and also of difficult choices. Baerwald's adventures take him from Germany to Italy to Japan. encountering politicians, gangsters and more than a few women. It spans the years from before WW1 to the early Cold War days and paints a man with a rock-solid character, driven by the need to do then right thing, even at the cost of his own happiness. It's sad to witness his early eagerness and ambition turn to despair and even fear. The author, David Baerwald, is Ernst's grandson, and he has clearly carried out a large amount of research to present this grandfather's story as factually as possible. Mainly, the book reads like a thriller, but is populated with real-life characters and situations. We witness concentration camps, earthquakes and worse. However, it's a detail-heavy read, and often plunges into the realms of a dry term-paper or dissertation, and it will take a dedicated reader not to skip some of the denser chapters. Overall it's a rewarding read if you stick with it, but at over 600 pages, it's not a beach read.