Book Review by

John Davis

The Secret Parts of Fortune, by Ron Rosenbaum; Random House: New York; 799 pages, hardback; $29.95.(Available on Amazon)

Mystery and conspiracy are guaranteed to arouse the interest of the average American reader. Think of any of the several real world mysteries you’ve read about over the years, and recall how you’ve wished you could be around to discover the truth.

It is the particular gift of Ron Rosenbaum that he is a seeker after truth. He notes that often the search for truth is not necessarily that it will result in conclusive proof one way or the other, but will do something far more intriguing. The search about the veracity of an ongoing mystery may not result in final truth, but often results in dispelling long held truisms.

This collection of short essays does not give you a single moment of dissatisfaction. For example, there is his long essay on his book, “Explaining Hitler”. He wondered why a man written, studied, and spoken about by millions, is ultimately so little understood? What caused him to become what he was? Rosenbaum explores the numerous theories. There were the Freudians, the force of history school, the German strain school, and a host of others which sought to explain Hitler’s evil. All of them lacked something intrinsic to understanding the man. Then Rosenbaum considered traditional evil.

He considers too Kim Philby, the master spy for the Soviets, who was himself the heir of an English Gentleman. Thousands of pages of great spy literature have been devoted to this great conspirator. The question remains however, what propelled him to do what he did? He betrayed his country and his class. Despite all that was said and done, the question remains open: for whom did he really spy? Rosenbaum explores this entire panoply of investigations, and brings in tantalizing speculations from not only great English historians but CIA conjectures as well.

What he concludes is convincing.

He runs the gamut, offering interesting insights about the elusive J.D. Salinger, to mad cow disease, to theatrical productions. My favorite is his study of the secretive Skull and Bones fraternity at Yale. Indeed, the cover of the book shows him outside its mysterious ‘tomb’ headquarters on the Yale campus.

You’ll enjoy every one of these essays by a man who looks at supposedly well-trod soil and discovers what others hoped to find.

~ Book Review by John Davis

Read More from John

John William Davis is a retired US Army counterintelligence officer and linguist. As a linguist, Mr. Davis learned five languages, the better to serve in his counterintelligence jobs during some 14 years overseas. He served in West Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands during the Cold War. There he was active in investigations directed against the Communist espionage services of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. His mission was also to investigate terrorists such as the Red Army Faction in Germany, the Red Brigades in Italy, and the Combatant Communist Cells (in Belgium) among a host of others.

His work during the Cold War and the bitter aftermath led him to write Rainy Street Stories, ‘Reflections on Secret Wars, Terrorism, and Espionage’ . He wanted to talk about not only the events themselves, but also the moral and human aspects of the secret world as well.

And now recently published in 2018, John continued his writing with Around the Corner: Reflections on American Wars, Violence, Terrorism, and Hope. 

Two powerful books worth reading.

Read more about them in the following Six Questions:

Six Questions with John Davis: Author of Rainy Street Stories

Six Questions with John Davis: Author of Around the Corner