HISTORICAL NOVELS & THE INTERNET

When I wrote this novel, there were two fairly important obstacles.  First, there was no internet and second, historical novels had been out of fashion for years.  Not until "The Other Boleyn Girl" was published in  2002 did they become popular again.


Re-reading "The Last Innocent Hour" to get it ready to be re-published, I remember how difficult it was to find certain things.  I had a library of books about the Third Reich and used libraries where ever I lived.  (After all, the first idea of the story had come to me in a library!)


I think the thing that was most difficult for me was not having pictures.  I am very visual and there just weren't pictures I needed.  For instance, the American Embassy in Berlin.  See below, thank you internet, although why there are swastikas hanging in front, I don't know.  It must after German declared war on the U.S.

But the most thing I needed the most and could not find, was a 1933 map of Berlin.  I finally found a guide book from the 1920's, and was pleased to find that.

Here's only one of the maps I found recently on the Internet.