| HHhH | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Laurent Binet |
| Language | French |
| Genre(s) | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Grasset & Fasquelle |
| Publication date | 2010 |
| Published in English |
2012 |
| Pages | 440 |
| ISBN | 9782246760016 |
HHhH is the first novel of French writer Laurent Binet. It recounts Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during World War II. It was awarded the Prix Goncourt du premier roman 2010.[1]
The novel follows the history of the operation and the life of its protagonists – Heydrich and his assassins Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. But is also interlaced with the author's account of the process of researching and writing the book, his commentary about other literary and media treatments of the subject, and reflections about the extent to which the behavior of real people may of necessity be fictionalised in a historical novel.[2][1][3]
The title is an acronym for Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich ("Himmler's brain is called Heydrich"), a quip about Heydrich said to have circulated in Nazi Germany. It was suggested as a title by Binet's publisher, Grasset, instead of the "too sci-fi" working title Opération Anthropoïde. The editor also requested the cut of about twenty pages criticizing Jonathan Littell's Les Bienveillantes, another novel about the SS in World War II that was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 2006.[4]
It is due to be published in English in the US by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on April 24, 2012[5] and in the UK by Harvill Secker on May 3, 2012.[6]