The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb
By: Neal Bascomb / Narrated By: Chris Sorensen
Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
Narration rather hinders what is a breathless account
Let’s just get this out of the way: Chris Sorensen’s narration is somewhat flat. Plus, he has a tendency of laying a heavy emphasis down upon the final word of practically each and every sentence.
I’m a x1.25 speed kinda gal, but even at this narration speed, I found Sorensen’s delivery made it rather slow going for most of the book. My husband was reading the book as I listened to it on my own, and I have a rather sneaking suspicion that he enjoyed The Winter Fortress a tad more than I did. Make no mistake! It’s a GREAT book, a fantastic story, and both he and I decided to give it a go with the death of Ronnenberg so recently. We just HAD to hear the story of the sabotage of a heavy water plant within Nazi-occupied Norway and the patriots who would’ve sacrificed their lives to carry out their mission.
And they would’ve. Each member of the team carried a cyanide tablet to swallow should they be caught. The book opens with such information and then, after a brief history of the time, the production of heavy water, and the introduction of the main members, the story takes off and doesn’t let go until the very end.
The book doesn’t just chronicle the events leading up to the assault of “The Winter Fortress”; just when you think you’ve endured enough of their sacrifices, of failed attempts, of torture and execution, you find that things aren’t over for the heroes, and that there is still lots to be done and more sacrifices to be made.
We like to think that there are things like humane warfare, but we discover from histories such as this that there’s no such thing. The innocent are caught up in deadly plots both good and bad, and they suffer and sacrifice just as much as combatants and the resistance. It’s a sobering thought and we ache just as much as the members who have to make weighty decisions do.
The Winter Fortress might work better as a book than an audiobook given Sorensen’s flat delivery, but I still found it to be a mesmerizing listen, a story that kept me riveted despite my exasperation. You’ll learn a lot about a heroic mission that’s not covered much, though Wikipedia shows a few other resources about it, and you’ll be awed by all that Norway went through and just how much Norwegians were willing to do to gain freedom for their country and people. Yes, the resistance joined in the efforts of the British, but they were mostly doing it for God and country.
If you like history, like espionage stories, if you love adventure and can get past the narration, you’re in for a good time with The Winter Fortress. It listens like a great action book, and you’ll love the men who did so much at a time when it meant absolutely the world. I’d had no idea Germany was so close to getting the atomic bomb that early.
Whew! A bullet dodged, all because men were willing to lay down their lives for it.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.