Autorentext

From his early years, Robert Arthur Neff has thrived on international involvement. Military service, business responsibilities, and personal travels have familiarized him with the locations and events entwined in his historical novel, Über Alles, a story he describes as "either a history lesson wrapped in a love story, or the reverse of that." Mr. Neff studied engineering, political science, and law at Cornell University, then he "entered the real world" as a JAG officer in the US Air Force. He was assigned to the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing of MATS, which aggregated squadrons deployed to overseas locations ranging from North Africa to Europe to Canada's DEW Line to New Zealand and Antarctica. These became a new kind of classroom for the itinerant lawyer. After his military service, Mr. Neff knew that he wanted a business career that would continue expanding his knowledge of many cultures and countries. He had the good fortune to find just such a job with the Rockefeller Brothers' International Basic Economy Corporation, headquartered at "30 Rock." Initially his assignments were focused upon Western Europe and The Middle East, but later they shifted to the management of various South American businesses, and that continent became Mr. Neff's home for several years. Prominent international businessmen were demanding more efficient, affordable air cargo services to accommodate the exploding growth of high-value international commerce. A leader in the movement was Mr. Laurance Rockefeller, whose participation in the airline industry collaterally yielded a welcome opportunity for Mr. Neff. He became an officer and director of Seaboard World Airlines, a major all-cargo airline which was pioneering international carriage innovations and also performing world-wide contract carriage for the US Department of Defense. Seaboard and the Flying Tiger Line later merged, and their combined activity eventually became an integral part of the contemporary Federal Express Corporation, from which Mr. Neff is a retiree. Mr. Neff now resides with his wife, Julie, in Pinehurst, NC, and on Beaver Island, MI. They continue to visit other parts of the world frequently, and Mr. Neff has formalized his lifelong interest in writing, drawing extensively upon themes suggested by his work and travels. Favored leisure activities include playing jazz standards on his oversized grand piano, watching and playing tennis, and enjoying the uncomplicated attractions of Nicaragua's Pacific Coast, where he does much of his serious writing.

Klappentext

Dieter, the orphaned son of a music professor, becomes the resident "piano man" in a pub favored by students and Nazi military personnel. Sofie is the indulged daughter of a prominent Wehrmacht general and a graduate music student at Berlin's finest university. She serves as her father's hostess in his elegant home on Wilhelmstrasse, which is frequented by prominent leaders of the Third Reich. Sofie enjoys the new popular music being written and performed in America - but banned from most German halls. She and her fellow students regularly visit the pub where Dieter plays. This leads to an invitation to Dieter to tune her piano in the Wilhelmstrasse residence, and an unlikely alliance forms between the two young people. They learn that each had a Jewish mother. Dieter's is deceased and Sofie's remains in her native Poland where she is a senior operative of the SSW, Poland's European intelligence-gathering network. When The Oster Conspiracy, an attempt on Hitler's life by some of his military officers, is uncovered, the blanket of suspicion comes dangerously close to Sofie's father and the young couple are forced to flee secretly to Prague, Czechoslovakia. There they are relatively safe until a minor Gestapo operative becomes suspicious of their identity and begins to delve into their backgrounds. This intensely captivating tale leads to Theresienstadt, Germany's most unusual concentration camp, where musicians were forced to perform for their Nazi tormentors.