The Third Reich

On vacation with his girlfriend, Ingeborg, the German war-game champion Udo Berger returns to a small town on the Costa Brava where he spent his summers as a child.

There, they meet another vacationing German couple, who introduce them to the darker side of the resort town’s life. Soon Udo is enmeshed in a round of Third Reich, his favourite World War II strategy game, with a shadowy local called El Quemado. As the game draws to its conclusion, Udo discovers that the outcome may be all too real.

Written in 1989, The Third Reich is a stunning exploration of memory and violence — and a rare glimpse at a world-class writer coming into his own.