They would begin, then subside to vague hummings, left unfinished like so much else. Song could be more common than speech – raucous, often wordless hymn tunes and ditties popular throughout Europe. In the extremity of winter 1944 he had no time for either.Īmongst the incalculable inmates of Meinnenberg language had largely dwindled to brusque signs and animal grunts for food and sexual bargaining. Wilfrid’s hands were soothing, as though caressing a bird, while containing skills in calligraphy and sculpture. Beneath the drift towards a united Europe Erich realizes that treaties do not always end war, that solemn rites cannot guarantee love and that the inevitable can fail to happen. Sojourns in Europe further underline that war and corruption are not extinct and that, in his own life, the most profound shocks are those of friendship and love.

His imagined island of monarchs, Churchill and gentlemen evaporates into one of scornful youth, insular adults and an underground of spies, political crooks and fanatics. But a love affair drives him to England to work for the Estonian government-in-exile. He arrives in Paris, where in 1945 his life seems full of promise. Erich s odyssey begins when his Estonian childhood is ended by the outbreak of the Second World War.

Now aged eighty-five, Secret Protocols is his final novel and will secure the an increased readership to match his reputation. Peter Vansittart has been acclaimed as England s greatest living historical novelist for several decades.

Secret Protocols by Peter Vansittart