THREE STORIES OF DECEPTION AND SURVIVAL
Atlantic Books, 320pp, £20
What do Himmler's Estonian-Dutch masseur, a non-binary Manchu princess, and a Jewish economist from Lviv have in common?
They are ‘self-invented. ‘Each of this trio had childhoods dislocated by war, which left them with confused nationalities, divided loyalties, fallen status and idealised memories of lost paradises. Buruma sees them as exemplary figures for the 2020s: avid, idealistic thrillseeking, improvisational, lusting for status and with an overmastering need to be valued at their own high estimation.’
