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Exiles and Survivors
In When the World Dies, you track how high hopes at the beginning of the 20th century disappeared with the appearance of world wars, genocide, and the nuclear age. Was there a particular historical event that compelled you to write this book?
The genocide of the Jews in World War II: My father’s Jewish family remained in Europe and was lost in the genocide. On his father’s side, they had already emigrated to the U.S. But on his mother’s side, they remained in Budapest with the exception of an uncle who left for Australia. That uncle, my great uncle, visited us and told of his harrowing escape. My mother was Protestant and of Dutch-German lineage.
Can you share with us a little about the research that went into putting this book together?
My research started about 5 or 6 years ago. I was fascinated by Stefan Zweig, an Austrian writer, forced to leave Salzburg after his home was ransacked and then sold for pennies. He ended in Petropolis, Brazil, where he and his wife were granted asylum. By 1942, distraught, he and his second wife committed suicide. That sent me to both places and prompted me to examine his situation and widen my research to all exiles and survivors. So, I read the secondary and primary sources and went to two archives: the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA, and the National Archives in Suitland, Maryland.
What gives you hope in a period you describe as so dangerous?
My thesis is simple: D.E. Davis has a new book, When the World Dies: Life and Death in an Age of Infamy. He calls the 20th century “infamous” because of its two world wars, totalitarianism, and the “button,” the one used in Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer to explode the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945, at Alamogordo, NM. We have arrived in 2026, he insists, like the year 800 CE, when Charlemagne saved civilization from the barbarians. Either a new Charlemagne comes along and saves us from modern barbarians, or civilization goes down.
If readers remember only one message from When the World Dies, what would you want it to be?
Maybe, it is thought, there is a parallel between 1945 and the nuclear bombings of Japan and 2026 with the Iran war: gain a quick victory by astonishing means, nuclear; silence the opposition at home and abroad; and cower potential enemies. After all, senior Iranian officials have suggested its use against Israel. Some even say we are already in World War III. Recently, I gave a slide lecture about my book, everything from Kenneth Clark showing us what civilization looks like to Major T.J. “King” Kong riding the A-bomb to civilization’s destruction in Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove. As this lecture neared an ending, I played Vera Lynn singing, “We’ll Meet [that bomb] Again Some Sunny Day.” (My book’s cover design is from the International Radiation Symbol’s designer, Cyrill Orly, 1946, University of California, Berkeley, Radiation Laboratory.)
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Step into a vividly illustrated confrontation with history— where the darkness of the 20th century looms large. Drawing on pivotal moments and influential figures, from the chaos of World War I to the rise of totalitarian regimes, Davis compellingly tells how humanity found itself teetering on the brink of nuclear annihilation. With insights gained from the likes of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Hannah Arendt, and George Orwell, When the World Dies examines the philosophical underpinnings of evil and the moral obligations of the living.
This timely look at what led civilization to the brink of nuclear war and the societal steps required to back away from that ledge asks readers to consider the Age of Infamy from a perspective informed by history. Join Davis on this eye-opening journey as he challenges us to reflect on our past in order to confront our present and cultivate a future of possibility.
A Deeper Insight
IYSH centers around a Jewish medical student and a fashion designer in 1940s Germany who face their worst fears when their lives are upended by Nazi forces. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My wife and I have traveled to many parts of Europe, the Mediterranean countries, and several times to Israel. The places mentioned in the novel, cities, and a Kibbutz in Israel have all been visited by us. Hence, we have experienced firsthand the historical and current lifestyles prevailing in that part of the world. From my teenage years, I have always had an interest in the events that took place during the Second World War; I studied extensively the characters of the generals, battles, and how the world was drawn into this conflict. All the while, I had the overriding conviction that the war was not only about Germany conquering Europe and the rest of the world, but that there was a satanic influence that spearheaded the origins of the conflict, namely the eradication of God’s chosen people, the Jews.
At the age of 27, I was ordained as a Christian minister and continued with my interests in the Jewish people, in particular during the time of the war. That led me to study the Diaspora and the settlement of the Jews throughout Europe. It was during the 1970s and 1980s that I read about the trials and struggles many Jews experienced during the war, as well as how many Christians did things secretly to help them.
Then one morning, as I was reading the Bible, I came across this verse in Ezekiel 22:30 that said, So I sought a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me . . . I researched the word “man” and found the translation to mean “champion.” I received the revelation that God wasn’t looking for an ordinary man to stand in the gap but that He needed a “champion.” That took me to events that many people experienced during the war, namely, they had to “champion the cause” to survive.
I began the journey of creating a story about a Jew and a Christian who did this during the war.
In short, the inspiration for the setup of the story was interlaced with my interests in the events of the war, my interest in the Jews, and the revelation I received about an IYSH – “champion” who would survive against the worst odds possible.
How did you approach writing scenes of persecution and displacement with both honesty and care?
I read about the many and varied persecutions people suffered during the war, and I wanted to explain how so many endured through it. I tried not get too gruesome and emotional about these scenes, always trying to balance the suffering with the characters’ endurance and tenacity that was propelled by their inner conviction that they should “champion the cause.” While some of the trials they experienced were common to most who were taken prisoners, the events I created were all my own thoughts. Scenes when Leo’s family was shot and killed in front of him, the suffering on the train ride to the camps, the arrests in the farmhouse, how Leo had his left hand amputated, and the tragic shooting that cost him his life were done to express the emotional roller coaster ride many experienced in the “heat of the battle.”
Sitting in a chair typing a story should never be influenced by the affluence the writer has while describing a horrific scene. Either too much gruesome explanation is given, or too little suffering is explored, leaving the reader at a loss about the real essence of the story. Thus, I tried to encase the trauma through the experience with the ever-present reminder that they were “champions” – IYSH who can make it no matter what.
I tried approaching scenes of persecution and displacement with both honesty and care that explained the characters’ reliance on their faith in God, their dedication to being a “champion,” and their care for those around them. Scenes when Ivy, Karen, and her sister form a friendship that transcends the death of one of them and forges an everlasting friendship and partnership in both the bad and the good times. Also, when Leo confides in the Rabbi about his guilt and how he does all he can to help those he believes he turned his back on.
Ivy plays a central role in the emotional arc—what drew you to her story?
It is important that we understand who these two main characters are and how they influenced the story. While living in South Africa, I met Leo Butlion through a business relationship, and over thirteen years, we forged a friendship that had a remarkable impact on my life. I was overly impressed with his uprightness, deeply seated commitment to be honest, and his unwavering integrity that stood the test of time throughout our relationship and his career as an attorney. He was a little older than me, but he always conducted himself with respect for others and gave me advice on issues that helped me during a difficult time in my banking career.
Leo’s wife, Ivy, is a close friend and confidant of my wife, Sandra. She is also an upright and honest person. Her honest approach to life was an example to her family, friends, and the members of the synagogue. Leo is a Jew and active in his synagogue, who has at times brought a word to the congregation. Ivy was a Christian and converted to the Jewish faith. She committed her life to being a faithful wife, mother, and member of her new faith. She was not deformed like the Ivy in the story. I wanted to express Ivy’s tenacious commitment to surviving and based her character on the Ivy we know. I thought the best way was to present her in the novel as someone who could “champion the cause” even with an impediment. I was drawn to present her as the one who could endure trials, always revert to her faith roots, and do what was needed even when faced with the worst challenges to survive. Scenes when she was found hiding in the barn and then taken to the house where Leo was also captured; how she was thrown to the floor and had her prosthesis exposed from under her coat sleeve, demonstrated her ability to act convincingly under the most trying circumstances. Her eventual collapse during the parade ground scene, when she tried to conceal her deformity and fell to the ground, only to be discovered by a guard, and how she conducts herself in the matron’s presence, is an explanation of her character and truthfulness.
What drew me to include her in the story was so that there would be a balance between the faiths, Jewish and Christian. Also, I needed to draw a parallel between the suffering and endurance that both men and women experienced during the war and afterwards. There was a need to balance Leo’s commitment to his medical practice with what Ivy did, namely, her talent as a designer. Both had an unwavering desire to succeed, and Ivy did this even though she was deformed. Her character is intended to bring warmth to the story and a caring that in spite of hardships, one can endure and make it through trials. Molding the novels’ Ivy was made easier when using the Ivy in South Africa as the example to follow.
What do you hope endures from this story in the minds of your readers?
It is my sincere hope that when this story is read, people will have a deeper insight into the trials so many endured during the worst atrocity the world has even known. This should never be removed from our history books, and the story needs to be told to remind future generations of what it took so many to do to survive. Also, it should encourage readers to adopt the attitude that everyone, in spite of their shortcomings, handicaps, and deformities, that all can be a “champion” – IYSH even in the worst of times. This is a story of character, uprightness, integrity, and commitment. All these are so rare in today’s modern society.
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Forgotten History
On the Wings of Flying Tigers follows a Florida farm boy turned pilot who goes from rural poverty into the morally uncertain skies of prewar China, where choosing to act may matter more than choosing sides. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The almost forgotten history of the Flying Tigers, how they began our unofficial entry into the Second World War.
I used my recollections of a place where I had lived for several years, Palatka, Florida, to make the story more lifelike. As writing instructors say, “Write about what you know.” This farm town launched my story.
What boy doesn’t marvel at his first sighting of a prop plane sputtering overhead? I, too, held that fascination, but unlike my main character, I did not pursue that curiosity into a lifetime career. I chose instead the study of microbes that led to my becoming a pathologist. It’s a story about early impressions and where they might lead us.
One of the book’s strongest tensions is moral rather than military. Why did you want to focus on prewar ambiguity instead of clear-cut conflict?
Life is a constant struggle between what is right and what is easy. People are constantly torn between which fork in the road to take. Often lost in the noise of battle is the tenderheartedness of those in the trenches. I chose to focus on this aspect and not create just another story filled with bombs dropping and active trench warfare.
The book lingers on mechanical, physical details—oil-stained hands, training rituals, engineering problem-solving. Why were those moments important to you?
I felt it was important to transmit the experience of working on these machines, the training involved in getting the skills to put together these marvelous machines, and the constant technical attention to maintaining them to be airborne ready quickly to save lives. The mechanics who work on these fighter planes are unsung heroes.
What do you hope readers take away about conviction, courage, and responsibility?
I hope my readers take away the understanding that courage and conviction in doing what’s morally right isn’t always easy. One must live with the consequences of one’s choices, which may not be those that were truly right for us at the time.
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But dreams come at a cost. Determined to serve and soar, Albert joins the military, enduring grueling hardship and sacrifice as he rises through the ranks. His journey eventually takes him halfway around the world, where he becomes part of the legendary Flying Tigers—an American volunteer group fighting under the Chinese Army’s banner during World War II.
In the cockpit, Albert finds the freedom he’s always sought. Yet every mission tests not only his courage but his very sense of self, reminding him that true freedom often demands the highest price.
Everyone Deserves a Home
Baer Charlton’s historical fiction novel, Everyone Deserves a Home, traces the intertwined lives of Walter Humphrey, Leatha, Betsy Turner, and eventually Hannah Mariah Rose Humphrey. It begins in the American South of the mid-1800s, moves through New Orleans, crosses the ocean to England, and follows a family shaped by secrets of race, identity, and survival. From the first chapters, the story lays out a complicated inheritance: hidden parentage, passing as white, the legacy of enslavement, and the formation of a chosen family built not by blood but by loyalty. Even early on, you see how Hannah’s future as a surgeon grows out of this unconventional household where medicine, language, theater, and resilience are all part of daily life.
The writing moves with an intimate, memoir-like rhythm, especially in the prologue, where adult children recount their mother’s hidden Black heritage and how she “became white” at five years old. That moment alone sets the tone. It’s direct, a little painful, and strangely gentle. Scenes stretch out with detail you can almost smell or touch. Then, suddenly, a sentence snaps short and lands like a stone in the gut. I liked that mix. It mirrors the characters themselves. Walter’s voice, in particular, blends clinical precision with emotional restraint. Meanwhile, Leatha’s chapters feel grounded and visceral, as if she’s speaking while chopping vegetables or tying on an apron. And Betsy’s early chapters shimmer with that mix of bravado and fragility found in a teenager who has survived too much too young.
What surprised me most was how the novel lets relationships carry the ideas. Topics like passing, racial identity, gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy are present, but they arrive wrapped inside the everyday details of meals, births, surgeries, and whispered conversations over kitchen tables. The story never lectures. It just unfolds. Sometimes I found myself pausing, not because something dramatic had happened, but because a small detail shifted my understanding of a character. A hand on a shoulder. A joke in sign language. A quiet refusal to leave someone behind. These moments gave the book a warm undercurrent even when the history it leans on is harsh. And although the novel spans continents and decades, its emotional center always comes back to the home this unconventional family creates together.
By the end, I felt like the title wasn’t just a claim but a philosophy that the book keeps proving. The story champions people who carve out belonging in a world determined to deny it to them. It’s historical fiction, yes, but it reads with the intimacy of family lore and the clarity of someone finally ready to tell the whole truth. I would recommend Everyone Deserves a Home to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction, stories about identity and chosen family, and novels that blend emotional honesty with rich, lived-in detail.
Pages: 263 | ASIN : B0FL13PG6X
In the Face of the Foe
In the Face of the Foe brings together three wartime tales that follow British prisoners of war and the strange mix of fear, grit, and shaky hope that shapes their survival. The story opens inside Stalag XXA, where boredom and danger sit side by side. Men spar, argue, dream, and stumble into choices that could kill them or free them, sometimes on the same night. The early chapters move from camp politics to tense missions beyond the wire, and the book keeps piling on moral knots that force each character to decide what they are willing to risk and who they want to be.
As I moved through the book, I felt myself leaning in, drawn by the rough humor and the raw strain between the men. The writing feels direct and sharp. It never hides the ugliness of fear. It also never forgets that soldiers can be petty and foolish and brave all at once. I liked how the author gives room for small moments that say more than the big ones. A quiet exchange over stolen cherries, the sting of a bad joke, the uneasy pause when a guard appears in the dark. These details felt honest, and they gave me a sense of standing right there in the mud with them. The dialogue sometimes slips into playful banter, and I found that mix of light and dark strangely comforting. It felt real in a way that polished war stories often miss.
The book kept raising questions without preaching. What does loyalty look like when every man is starving? What does courage mean when the cost falls on someone else? Some choices hit hard. One scene with a child had me holding my breath because the moment felt too close to the edge. The tension built slowly, then snapped tight. The writing does not tidy up the mess afterward, and I appreciated that honesty.
It is a story for readers who enjoy wartime fiction that focuses more on people than battlefields. Anyone who likes character-driven plots, moral puzzles, and a close look at the fragile ties that hold people together will find a lot here. I would recommend it to readers who want grit without glamor and heart without sentiment.
Pages: 508 | ASIN : B0G1K6GG7F
Love, Hate, and Ego
The Long Farewell follows a young man with an Oedipus complex living in the rise of Nazi Germany who, after a series of tragic events, seeks to get revenge on his father. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
When I was in college, I was fascinated by Jorgen, a fellow student whom others in our student house labeled as a weirdo. He exhibited abrupt mood swings and had an aggressive aura, although he was skinny and short. When something irked Jorgen – and many things did – he stood trembling, his fists clenched, his eyes wide-open, in front of you and then burst into tears. After such an emotional eruption, he was withdrawn and silent. In our student house, we placed bets on how long he would last at university. I had been so stupid to tell the others I wanted to become a writer and that Jorgen could become a fascinating character in the novel I wanted to write. The rumor had apparently reached Jorgen: during an evening out at the well-known student pub The Red Scaffold, he confronted me about my statement. It turned out that, for once, he wasn’t aggressive. On the contrary, he seemed flattered. We found a quiet place on the terrace. Jorgen told me he wanted to become a poet and asked a string of questions. We drank a few beers, and he became nostalgic and tearful. He boasted he was diagnosed as borderline schizophrenic. He really seemed proud about it and became strangely souped-up and said with trembling lips and flared nostrils: “My mother turned me into a creep. I was only thirteen when she confessed that she wanted me to make love to her. I remember that a fiery arrow went along my spine, making me shudder.” He peered closely at my shocked face and almost whispered:” Nobody knows if we did it or not.”
What could I say? I was quiet.
Jorgen looked me straight in the eyes. I saw he was fighting back tears. “I hate my father,” he whined softly, exhaling with quivering lips. “It’s all his fault.”
That evening, in my bed, I vowed to write a book one day, circling a character with an Oedipus complex.
And to dodge Jorgen.
I didn’t have to do that long. Two weeks later, Jorgen didn’t check in on Monday at our student house.
And never came back.
The memory of this troubled young man stayed with me for several years.
And popped up stronger than ever when I began writing “The Long Farewell.”
The tragic boy Hermann was born.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
The contradiction between our ‘good’ and ‘bad’ urges is breathtaking. The building of our personalities after birth is chaotic. Our instincts are relentlessly brutal. If babies had the strength to wield weapons, I believe that most of them would be murderers before their third year. We speak with disdain –and fear- about narcissists and don’t want to face up to the fact that our own ego is narcissistic on different levels. In “The Long Farewell,” we see Hermann’s mental suffering, fueled by his hate for his SS father, getting worse and culminating in a dangerous schizophrenia, leading to a truly apocalyptic ending in the German city of Dresden. Schizophrenia is a fascinating and eerie mental disease. When a baby grows up in a family where its mother and father imprint it with radically opposed worldviews, research has detected that the tension thus generated later on in life is the ideal breeding ground for mental anomalies. In past times, these anomalies were called demons. You may smile, but I assure you that we have to take them seriously.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
You know, I often think that everything on this Earth eventually comes down to the endless configurations that love, hate, and ego can produce. Love and ego can join forces to form powerful hate and cruelty. I know that we want to see love as something pristine and holy, but reality shows us otherwise.
Of course, I propose my statement here, pure and well-defined. In everyday life, the borders between love and hate –and ego! – are fuzzy. In my oeuvre, I try to follow the intricate signs in our mind that forecast violent drama. Not an easy task, I can assure you. You may wonder why I am so frantically searching for the roots of our violence. I wonder about that too, because after 39 years of being a full-time author, I’m still searching. I’ve been a travel writer in conflict zones between 1990 and 2003, visiting Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, Lebanon, Burundi, Bosnia, Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Kosovo, Myanmar… to name but a few. Those travels have surely influenced my outlook on the world. In Belgium and the Netherlands, my Flemish/Dutch publisher published 45 books. Although set on several continents, they all focus on the mystery of our aggression, on the executioners and the executed.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I suspect that I’m writing my last novel: I am seventy-two, and I feel my energy waning. Three years ago, I fell victim to a sepsis infection that nearly killed me. I still struggle with the damage the sepsis has wrecked. Moreover, I am afraid to lose my mental powers and glide into Alzheimer’s maw. The terrible disease destroyed my mother’s brain. I know that Alzheimer’s is hereditary, therefore I spy on myself as if my life depends on it. Which it does, of course.
But enough whining, my manuscript-in-progress carries the ominous working title “Black Water,” but I keep searching for a better one. Over here, in Belgium, readers know me as an author who writes crossovers between suspense and literary, but “Black Water” is more magical realism, with a story taking place on different continents, with a central character, a writer/father hiding many secrets from his teenage daughter until a car accident results in a deep coma. Moran, the daughter, tries to wake him up by reading excerpts of his diary. I could explain more, but an author must be cautious and not divulge too much about a work in progress—the novel centers on love, sorrow, and guilt.
And magical mystery?
Maybe.
When out?
I hope next year.
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His father is in the SS, his mother is Belarusian, and his girlfriend is Jewish. After a brutal clash with his father, Hermann and his mother flee to Paris. Swept along by a maelstrom of events, Hermann ends up as a spy for the British in the Polish extermination camp Treblinka.
The trauma of what he sees in this realm of death intensifies his pessimistic outlook on humanity. In Switzerland, the famous psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung tries to free Hermann of his frightening schizophrenia, but fails to unravel the power of the young man’s emotions, especially his intense hate for his father.
What follows is a tragic chain of events, leading to Hermann’s ultimate revenge on his father: the apocalyptic bombing of Dresden.
THE LONG FAREWELL is an unforgettable exploration of fascism’s lure and the roots of the Holocaust. More than ever, the novel is a mirror for our modern times.
The Long Farewell
The Long Farewell is a haunting and relatable story set in the grim rise of Nazi Germany. It follows Marina Nesdrova, a Belarusian refugee trapped in a loveless marriage to an ambitious German officer, and her son Hermann, a boy torn between the warmth of his mother and the cold ideology consuming his father. Through their eyes, the book reveals the slow poisoning of ordinary lives by fanaticism. Love, guilt, betrayal, and fear mix with the heavy shadow of history, turning the personal into something almost mythic. Author Bob Van Laerhoven writes with the precision of a historian and the soul of a poet, weaving the domestic and the political into a tapestry that feels both intimate and terrifying.
What I liked most was the raw, unfiltered emotion beneath the words. Every page hums with quiet menace. The author doesn’t let us look away, and I found myself torn between admiration and discomfort. Marina’s despair feels like a slow drowning. Hermann’s innocence is eaten away scene by scene until you realize there’s no escape for him. Laerhoven’s prose is elegant but never showy. He keeps the sentences sharp and grounded, and the translation by Vernon Pearce carries a dark rhythm that lingers. It’s not just a story about Nazis and victims, it’s about what happens when love rots in the shadow of power.
I won’t lie, reading it was emotionally difficult. I felt angry, then sad, then strangely numb. The violence is understated yet suffocating. It creeps in like a chill. I found myself wanting to shake the characters, to warn them, but they kept walking toward their fate, blind and hopeful in equal measure. What I loved most, though, was how the book refuses to moralize. It just presents life as it was, messy, cruel, and tragically beautiful. It’s that honesty that makes it unforgettable.
The Long Farewell is not a book you finish and set aside. It’s a book that keeps you thinking well after it’s ended. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction that bites deep, who doesn’t mind feeling a little broken when they turn the last page. If you want to look straight into the heart of human weakness and still find traces of grace there, this book will stay with you for a long time.
Pages: 365 | ASIN : B0FPK7P459
Timeless
Anne Hart’s Timeless is a sweeping time-travel spy novel that blends espionage, politics, and personal struggle with a sharp eye for historical detail. At its heart is Anne, a seasoned field agent who slips between eras to manipulate history in ways that serve shadowy powers. The story unfolds across Geneva, Eastern Europe, and shifting political landscapes on the brink of war. Hart threads in rich settings, complex moral dilemmas, and characters caught between loyalty, survival, and personal desire. It is both a taut spy thriller and a meditation on the costs of living outside the normal flow of time.
Hart’s prose is crisp, direct, and atmospheric. I admired the way she captures small gestures and passing moments, the flick of a lighter, the hush of a closing vault door, a careless smile at the wrong time. These details made the story vivid. At times, the dialogue felt a little formal, as if it was doing double duty to explain the world as well as move the story forward. Still, the pacing carried me along. I wanted to know not just what would happen to Anne and Markus, but how Hart would weave together the politics of nations with the intimacy of two people’s lives.
What struck me most was the emotional undercurrent. Anne is a fascinating lead: hard-edged, sharp-tongued, cynical, yet deeply human in her weariness and longing for peace. Her smoking habit, her resistance to being told what to do, her flashes of humor, all of it made her feel alive. There were moments when I felt a kind of ache for her, as if she carried the weight of too many lives, too many timelines, too many compromises. The novel’s treatment of history, like how fragile and malleable it can be, left me unsettled, in the best way. It made me think about power, morality, and the human cost of decisions made in shadows.
Timeless is a book I would recommend to readers who enjoy spy fiction, political thrillers, or alternate history with a touch of melancholy. It will speak most to those who like their stories gritty yet reflective, where action and atmosphere go hand in hand.
Pages: 257 | ASIN : B0FQ1KJB66
