The Last of the Seven: A Novel of World War II

by Steven Hartov

Overview

A spellbinding novel of World War II based on the little-known history of the X Troop—a team of European Jews who escaped the Continent only to join the British Army and return home to exact their revenge on Hitler’s military.

A lone soldier wearing a German uniform stumbles into a British military camp in the North African desert with an incredible story to tell. He is the only survivor of an undercover operation meant to infiltrate a Nazi base, trading on the soldiers’ perfect fluency in German. However, this man is not British-born but instead a German Jew seeking revenge for the deaths of his family back home in Berlin.

As the Allies advance into Europe, the young lieutenant is brought to recover in Sicily. There he is recruited by a British major to join the newly formed X Troop, a commando unit composed of German and Austrian Jews training for a top secret mission at a nearby camp in the Sicilian hills. They are all “lost boys,” driven not by patriotism but by vengeance.

Drawing on meticulous research into this unique group of soldiers, The Last of the Seven is a lyrical, propulsive historical novel perfect for readers of Mark Sullivan, Robert Harris and Alan Furst.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335050106
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	08/09/2022
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

STEVEN HARTOV is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller In the Company of Heroes, as well as The Night Stalkers and Afghanistan on the Bounce. For six years he served as Editor-in-Chief of Special Operations Report. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, and most recently the History Channel’s Secret Armies. A former Merchant Marine sailor, Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper and special operator, he is currently a Task Force Commander in the New York Guard. He lives in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

A classic WWII raid story in the behind-the-lines tradition of The Guns of Navarone, Steven Hartov’s The Last of the Seven ticks like a detonator and explodes like a bomb. I read it [in] one rush and the book didn’t lose momentum the whole way. Hartov himself is the real deal, a veteran of IDF Intelligence and a paratrooper (currently a reserve major in the US Army). He delivers his tale with such vivid and authentic detail that you come away believing you too can speak Hochdeutsch, Yiddish, and Hebrew as you take on Hitler’s atomic labs deep in the heart of the Third Reich.” —Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of Gates of Fire and A Man at Arms

“An immensely readable, addictive, tense, and dramatic World War II adventure. Steven Hartov’s descriptive skills draw the reader in from the very beginning and his fluent writing style keeps you turning the pages. Hugely enjoyable.” —Dominic Piper, author of Kiss Me When I’m Dead, part of the PI Daniel Beckett series

“The Last of the Seven is a beautifully told war story, written with stirring prose and painstakingly accurate detail. Hartov shares a little known but compelling slice of Second World War history where German Jewish escapees were employed behind enemy lines in British commando operations that carried extreme risk and high stakes. The plot is a nail-biter. The dialogue crackles. The characters are memorable. And the exotic settings are laid out with such historical precision that you’ll feel as if you are on the ground watching the horror, the sacrifice, the bravery, and the romance unfold in front of your eyes. Another absolute winner from Hartov." —Daniel Kalla, bestselling author of The Far Side of the Sky and The Darkness in the Light

“A fact-inspired novel about a German Jewish soldier fighting for the British as a member of two secret, all-Jewish commando units disguised as Nazis. … Hartov is at his best capturing the torturous physical tests his protagonist is put to. The desert scenes scorch the imagination; the bombing of a transport ship is horrific. … A little-known story enjoyably told.”—Kirkus Reviews

"A gripping look back at WWII through the eyes of a war-torn unit of European Jews who are sent behind enemy lines to strike back at Hitler, Steven Hartov's The Last of Seven, opens fast and never lets up for a second. Impossible to put down, fans of Robert Harris and Andrew Gross will want to get their hands on this one the second it hits bookstores." —Ryan Steck, The Real Book Spy, and author of Fields of Fire

"The Last of the Seven is a story that is as beautifully crafted as it is tragic and brutal. Steven Hartov moves beyond an impeccably researched recounting of historical events, tapping into the vivid memories and raw emotions of one who lost everything under the Nazi reign of terror. It is deeply personal and highly compelling—a memorable novel of survival and revenge during the tumultuous era of World War II." – Taylor Moore, author of Down Range

“A little-known story enjoyably told.”-Kirkus Reviews


"Top-notch war fiction." —Booklist (Starred Review)

"A literary gem... Lyrical and dreamy, The Last of the Seven is a deeply felt exploration of love, hope, and forgiveness."—Historical Novels Review

“[A] beautifully written historical novel … this story does not disappoint.”—The Times of Israel

From the Publisher

2022-05-25
A fact-inspired novel about a German Jewish soldier fighting for the British as a member of two secret, all-Jewish commando units disguised as Nazis.

The book begins in the North African desert in the spring of 1943. Having miraculously made it across an endless stretch of sand in the blistering heat on a shattered leg, Bernard Froelich convinces his British captors that despite his Nazi uniform, he is one of them. He is the last surviving member of an infiltration squad comprised of escaped German and Austrian Jews who, having lost their families in the Holocaust, are out for revenge. Boasting a gangrenous wound, Froelich is told his leg will be amputated before the charismatic, cigar-chomping American commander of an understaffed field hospital in an Italian monastery overrules the order and devises a makeshift way to set and heal the leg. Soon enough, Froelich is recovered enough to take charge of another all-Jewish team of fake Nazis whose mission is to parachute into a German village on the isle of Usedom to disrupt an advanced Nazi missile project. A one-time merchant mariner and member of a Special Operations branch of Israeli Military Intelligence, Hartov is at his best capturing the torturous physical tests his protagonist is put to. The desert scenes scorch the imagination; the bombing of a transport ship is horrific. While never less than entertaining, the rest of the novel doesn’t rise to that level of intensity, comfortably plugged into the Dirty Dozen formula (Froelich and his fellow commandos are called FJDs, as in “filthy Jewish dozen”). There are extended training sequences, plenty of gallows humor to go around, Rommel makes a low-key appearance, and Froelich falls in love.

A little-known story enjoyably told.

Kirkus Reviews