''The Kaiser's Last Kiss'' is a

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

novel written by

Alan Judd Alan Judd (born 1946) is a pseudonym used by Alan Edwin Petty. Born in 1946, he is a former soldier and diplomat who now works as a security analyst and writer in the United Kingdom. He writes both books and articles, regularly contributing to a ...

. The story gives a fictional account of the last few days in the life of exiled

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

after his home at

Doorn Doorn is a town in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The town is famous for being the final residence of Wilhelm II. History In a document from 885 to 896 the settlement is called ...

, Netherlands is taken over by the invading Germans during the opening months of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The book was published by

Harper Perennial Harper Perennial is a paperback imprint of the publishing house HarperCollins Publishers. Overview Harper Perennial has divisions located in New York, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The imprint is descended from the Perennial Library imprint foun ...

. In October 2015, filming started for the adaptation of the book starring

Lily James Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson (born 5 April 1989), known professionally as Lily James, is an English actress. She studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and began her career in the British television series '' Just Wi ...

and

Jai Courtney Jai Stephen Courtney (; born 15 March 1986) is an Australian actor. Born and raised in Sydney, Courtney started his career as a teenager with small roles in film and television, and studied acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing ...

Plot summary

The story is set in 1940 and concerns

Untersturmführer (, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of '' Sturmführer'', which had existed since the founding of the SA in 192 ...

Martin Krebbs, a young and recently commissioned SS officer who has been sent to

Huis Doorn Huis Doorn (; ) is a manor house and national museum in the town of Doorn in the Netherlands. The residence has early 20th-century interiors from the time when former German Emperor Wilhelm II resided there (1920–1941). Huis Doorn was first b ...

to guard the exiled

as the German Army advances into the Netherlands. While there, Krebbs meets and falls for Akki, an undercover British agent posing as a maid, who has been sent by the

British Secret Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...

on the orders of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

to assess the Kaiser's feelings about the war and his possible willingness to defect to Britain. As the story unfolds, and through conversations Krebbs has with both the Kaiser and Akki (who Krebbs discovers is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

), and a visit from

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

, Krebbs begins to discover some uncomfortable truths about the Nazis, forcing him to question the things he has been taught. When Akki's true identity is in danger of being exposed, Krebbs must choose between his duty to the Third Reich and his feelings for the woman he loves.

Historical context

The story imagines a slightly altered timeline of events surrounding the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...

, most notably the time between the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

, which occurred in 1940, and the death of the Kaiser and the

German invasion of Russia Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

, both of which took place in 1941. As described in the story a detachment of

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

troops under the command of an SS officer was sent to guard Wilhelm II, but Krebbs is an imagined character. Churchill offered the Kaiser asylum in the United Kingdom, but the invitation was conveyed to him in different circumstances from those described in the book. Heinrich Himmler did not visit the Kaiser at Huis Doorn, but

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

did. An incident in the book during which Wilhelm's wife Princess Hermine gives Himmler an envelope of money is based on a similar incident involving Goering. The novel also makes reference to an assassination attempt against

Hanns Albin Rauter Johann Baptist Albin Rauter (4 February 1895 – 24 March 1949) was a high-ranking Austrian-born SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. He was the Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Netherlands and therefore the leading ...

, the head of the SS in the Netherlands, the

Le Paradis massacre The Le Paradis massacre was a World War II war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of ''Hauptsturmführer'' Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, d ...

, and deals with Krebbs' discomfort on hearing Himmler discussing his preferred method for exterminating Jewish children.

Adaptation

The novel was adapted into the movie ''

The Exception ''The Exception'' is a 2016 romantic war film directed by David Leveaux (in his directorial debut) and written by Simon Burke, based on Alan Judd's 2003 novel '' The Kaiser's Last Kiss''. The film stars Jai Courtney, Lily James, Janet McTeer, ...

'' in 2016.

Main characters

Martin Krebbs - an SS Officer sent to guard the Kaiser *

- the exiled former German Emperor *Akki - a British Secret Service agent sent to assess the Kaiser's feelings about the war and his willingness to defect to the United Kingdom, posing as a maid from

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. * Princess Hermine - the second wife of Wilhelm II *

- the Reichsführer of the SS *Captain von Ilsemann - Wilhelm's personal aide

References

*Judd, Alan: The Kaiser's Last Kiss

External links

Biography of Alan JuddOther Books by Alan Judd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaisers Last Kiss, The 2003 British novels Novels set during World War II Fiction set in 1940 Novels set in the Netherlands Cultural depictions of Wilhelm II Cultural depictions of Heinrich Himmler HarperCollins books British novels adapted into films