Inspired by the banality of evil from the diary of camp commander Rudolf Höss, Merle wrote this first Holocaust novel from the perspective of the perpetrator, which made him world-famous. The unique psychological study of a mass murderer, driven by thoroughness and obedience, still shakes readers with its ruthless, banal logic even half a century after its publication. "When will someone finally have the courage to see this novel as an indispensable complement to Hannah Arendt's 'Report on the Banality of Evil'?" Le Monde. "This novel is exactly what Littell is praised for: grand and cold." Die Welt. "A gruesome book that must be read." Stuttgarter Zeitung.