Books by Jonathan Freedland
The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany and the Spy Who Betrayed Them
by Jonathan Freedland
In The Traitors Circle Jonathan Freedland, author of the brilliant The Escape Artist, tells the story of a group of people—many of them aristocratic German women—who dared to oppose Hitler. The Guardian review raved about the book, opining that "Freedland has produced that elusive thing – an impeccably sourced history book that reads as propulsively as an airport thriller."
“This book is extraordinary because Rudolf Vrba and a fellow inmate, Alfred Wetzler, were the first Jews ever to break out of Auschwitz. Jonathan Freedland is a fiction writer too—he writes thrillers under the name Sam Bourne—so there is an element of thriller in the way that he describes this escape and the build-up to it. It is incredibly heart-in-your-mouth compelling. But it’s a bigger story than just one man’s breakout. Vrba goes on to try and put the word out about what’s going on in Auschwitz and saves many lives in the process. The book is memorializing one man’s heroism.” Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist
Caroline Sanderson, Journalist
Interviews where books by Jonathan Freedland were recommended
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1
All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler
by Rebecca Donner -
2
The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III
by Andrew Roberts -
3
Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane
by Paul Auster -
4
The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
by Jonathan Freedland -
5
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
by Katherine Rundell -
6
Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South
by Winfred Rembert
Award Winning Biographies of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
Award Winning Biographies of 2022, recommended by Sophie Roell
In telling stories of lives that are often very different from our own and yet connected to us by our common humanity, biographies are some of the most compelling nonfiction books around. Five Books editor Sophie Roell rounds up some of the biographies that have won or been shortlisted for prizes in 2022.
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1
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
by Caroline Elkins -
2
The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
by Jonathan Freedland -
3
My Fourth Time, We Drowned
by Sally Hayden -
4
The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
by Anna Keay -
5
A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story
by Polly Morland -
6
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
by Katherine Rundell
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson
The Best Nonfiction Books: The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Caroline Sanderson
Every year the judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize pick out the best nonfiction books published in the United Kingdom over the previous 12 months. Author and books journalist Caroline Sanderson, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the books that made the 2022 shortlist, books that are important, readable and will hopefully surprise you.
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1
Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival
by Stephen Greenblatt -
2
The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes
by William Kelleher Storey -
3
Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome
by Jane Draycott -
4
The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany and the Spy Who Betrayed Them
by Jonathan Freedland -
5
Baldwin: A Love Story
by Nicholas Boggs -
6
True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen
by Lance Richardson
New Biographies
New Biographies
Among the new biographies coming out in 2025, the lives of literary figures have been particularly prominent, including new books about Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish adventure writer, and Shakespeare’s rival Christopher Marlowe, who was stabbed to death aged 29. Also popular are reconstructions of lives from the distant past that we know little about, including the first King of England and Fulvia, the first wife of Mark Antony.
