ROBERT Harris is the master of the historical thriller and his latest novel finds him in fine form.
Previous books have twisted the history of Second World War codebreakers and the politics of ancient Rome into page-turning best-sellers and he has done it again, this time with The Dreyfus Affair.
His story of the scandal that shook 19th century France and saw a Jewish army officer framed as a spy, is a tale of dodgy dossiers and an intelligence agency gone rogue.
He tells it through the eyes of Colonel George Picquart - one of the men who helped jail Dreyfus in the first place - and his growing doubts and realisation they got the wrong man are played out in a dark atmosphere of anarchist threats, forged evidence and blackmail.
Some of Harris's readers will already know how this story ends, but it's a tribute to his skill that he keeps you reading to the final page.
Rating: 8/10
Review: Robert Dex
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