Join Vermont Author Jack Mayer for a discussion: “How Germany’s Weimar Democracy Became the Third Reich: the history that inspired my novel, BEFORE THE COURT OF HEAVEN.” 
Free and open to the public

About the Book:

Before the Court of Heaven is based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Werner Techow and his turning from evil. Three themes impel this novel: understanding the rise of Nazism, unfathomable forgiveness, and the complexity of redemption. A portrait of Germany between world wars, from revolution and unrest following World War I to the rise of the Nazis, World War II and the Holocaust, Before the Court of Heaven portrays ordinary people becoming complicit in extraordinary crimes.

Woodstock Area Jewish Community Congregation Shir Shalom - 493 Route 4 W, Woodstock, VT 05091 - (802) 457-4840

Vermont author Jack Mayer gives a slide presentation and discussion about the history that inspired his new historical novel, BEFORE THE COURT OF HEAVEN, which has received 13 book awards:  www.jackmayer.net  Free.  Co-sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. 

BEFORE THE COURT OF HEAVEN is based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Techow, and his complex and harrowing redemption.  Techow participates in the 1922 murder of Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, the highest-ranking Jew in the Weimar Republic.  The novel is inspired by the history of how Germany’s Weimar democracy became the Third Reich – how ordinary Germans became complicit in extraordinary crimes.  

“Haunting echoes of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. . . “  US Review of Books

“. . . a strong, affecting novel . . . a story of immense human failure and touching redemption . . . it stands among the finer recent portrayals in fiction of the most troubling era of modern history.” - Jay Parini – Novelist, poet, essayist and D.E. Axinn Prof. of English and Creative Writing, Middlebury College – author of The Last Station.

I will be interviewed by Christine Moriarty on WDEV's Open Mike program on Monday, June 5th at 10 am.  Hope you can listen in on our conversation about BEFORE THE COURT OF HEAVEN. 

Listen on-line here:    http://wdevradio.com/open-mike/

Author Jack Mayer will discuss his new novel, Before the Court of Heaven. Historical fiction based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Werner Techow and his turning from evil. Three themes impel this novel: understanding the rise of Nazism, unfathomable forgiveness, and the complexity of redemption. A portrait of Germany between world wars, from revolution and unrest following World War I to the rise of the Nazis, World War II and the Holocaust, Before the Court of Heaven portrays ordinary people becoming complicit in extraordinary crimes.

Tickets are $3 per person. Each ticket comes with a $5 coupon good toward the purchase of the featured book.

Author Jack Mayer will discuss his new novel, Before the Court of Heaven. Historical fiction based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Werner Techow and his turning from evil. Three themes impel this novel: understanding the rise of Nazism, unfathomable forgiveness, and the complexity of redemption. A portrait of Germany between world wars, from revolution and unrest following World War I to the rise of the Nazis, World War II and the Holocaust, Before the Court of Heaven portrays ordinary people becoming complicit in extraordinary crimes.

Author Jack Mayer will discuss his new novel, Before the Court of Heaven. Historical fiction based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Werner Techow and his turning from evil. Three themes impel this novel: understanding the rise of Nazism, unfathomable forgiveness, and the complexity of redemption. A portrait of Germany between world wars, from revolution and unrest following World War I to the rise of the Nazis, World War II and the Holocaust, Before the Court of Heaven portrays ordinary people becoming complicit in extraordinary crimes.

Author Jack Mayer will discuss his new novel, Before the Court of Heaven. Historical fiction based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Werner Techow and his turning from evil. Three themes impel this novel: understanding the rise of Nazism, unfathomable forgiveness, and the complexity of redemption. A portrait of Germany between world wars, from revolution and unrest following World War I to the rise of the Nazis, World War II and the Holocaust, Before the Court of Heaven portrays ordinary people becoming complicit in extraordinary crimes.

Join author Jack Mayer for a reading and book signing event in Newport, Vermont at the Goodrich Memorial Library as part of the Newport Fall Foliage Festival’s "Newport is for Book Lovers.”

Jack will discuss his new novel, Before the Court of Heaven. Historical fiction based on the true story of a fascist assassin, Ernst Werner Techow and his turning from evil. Three themes impel this novel: understanding the rise of Nazism, unfathomable forgiveness, and the complexity of redemption. A portrait of Germany between world wars, from revolution and unrest following World War I to the rise of the Nazis, World War II and the Holocaust, Before the Court of Heaven portrays ordinary people becoming complicit in extraordinary crimes.