With this remarkable novel, the writer of The Godfather easily destroys the established notion of him as a chronicler of the Italian Mafia in America. The novel is about the love between an American soldier and a German girl. It begins at the end of the war in Germany. The Nazis have not forgotten their former greatness; they reverently honor the memory of the Führer and see the new masters of life—the Americans—only as temporary suppliers of cigarettes and Coca-Cola... Drama and a barely noticeable irony—this is the signature of a true Master, which the author of this novel, Mario Puzo, unquestionably is: a recognized classic of contemporary literature.