RaveThe Wall Street JournalThe beauty of the writing is such that a narrative is hardly necessary, but Ostend has just enough of one. It’s about a feverish gathering of anti-fascist intellectuals in the summer of 1936. Civil war is erupting in Spain; Nazi Germany is preparing for its showcase Olympics. Hitler and Mussolini are coming to seem unstoppable. The book is brimming with harbingers and portent.
