Number 12 Rue Sainte-Catherine: and Other Stories

Though unexceptional in every way, Klaus Barbie, a mid-level Gestapo chief, ruled Lyon, France, like a medieval tyrant from 1942-44. Crowds parted to let him pass; a table was permanently reserved for him at Le Lapin Blanc, Lyon’ s raciest nightclub; and pretty young women slipped him notes inscribed with their phone numbers.

But his glory days represented only a thin slice of his life. What prepared him for his role as the so-called Butcher of Lyon, and what became of him after the war end...