Family of spies : a World War II story of Nazi espionage, betrayal, and the secret history behind Pearl Harbor / Christine Kuehn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuehn, Christine, 1963- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kuehn, Otto, 1895-1955.

Kuehn, Otto.

Kuehn, Otto, 1895-1955--Family.

Kuhn family.

Intelligence officers--Germany--Biography.

Intelligence officers.

Germans--Hawaii--Biography.

Germans.

Spies--Germany--Biography.

Spies.

Espionage, Japanese--Hawaii--Pearl Harbor--History--20th century.

Espionage, Japanese.

Espionage, German--Hawaii--Pearl Harbor--History--20th century.

Espionage, German.

Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941.

Nazis--Germany--Biography.

Nazis.

World War, 1939-1945--Secret service--Japan.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Secret service--Germany.

Spies--Japan--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 259 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits, genealogical table, facsimiles ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

World War II story of Nazi espionage, betrayal, and the secret history behind Pearl Harbor

Place of Publication:

New York : Celadon Books, 2025.

Summary:

"A propulsive, never-before-told story of one family's shocking involvement as Nazi and Japanese spies during WWII and the pivotal role they played in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It began with a call from a screenwriter, asking about a story. Your family. World War II. Nazi spies. Christine Kuehn was shocked and confused. When she asked her seventy-year-old father, Eberhard, what this could possibly be about, he stalled, deflected, demurred, and then he wept. He knew this day would come. The Kuehns, a once-prominent Berlin family, saw the rise of the Nazis as a way out of the hard times that had befallen them. When the daughter of the family, Eberhard's sister, Ruth, met Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels at a party, the two hit it off, and they had an affair. But Ruth had a secret--she was half Jewish--and Goebbels found out. Rather than having Ruth killed, Goebbels instead sent the entire Kuehn family to Hawaii, to work as spies half a world away. There, Ruth and her parents established an intricate spy operation from their home, just a few miles down the road from Pearl Harbor, shielding Eberhard from the truth. They passed secrets to the Japanese, leading to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. After Eberhard's father was arrested and tried for his involvement in planning the assault, Eberhard learned the harsh truth about his family and faced a decision that would change the path of the Kuehn family forever. Jumping back and forth between Christine discovering her family's secret and the untold past of the spies in Germany, Japan, and Hawaii, Family of Spies is fast-paced history at its finest, and will rewrite the narrative of December 7, 1941"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

"Don't Say Anything"

The Secret

"In the Darkness, the Two Led the Attack on Pearl Harbor"

Crafting a Nazi Spy

Falling Under the Spell

The Crash

Payback

A Chance Encounter

"They Just Vanished!"

Bushido: "The Way of the Warrior"

The World's Thirty Greatest Women Spies

Special Agent in Charge

Hell Was Heading to Paradise

Bag of Tricks

The Warning Was Clear

The Final Days

December 7, 1941: X-Day

Captured

Behind the Barbed Wire

"I Assumed We Would Be Executed"

The Trial

The Verdict

The Submarine Saboteurs

"Arrangements Will Be Made for an Early Execution"

"Rescue Eberhard for Me!"

Nowhere to Go

The Reckoning

Reconciling.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-250) and index.

ISBN:

9781250344465

1250344468

OCLC:

1478325242