Vollmann's novel retells the events of World War Two through various fictionalised accounts of Russian and German figures, from famous artists, to villified revolutinaries, to celebrated military personnel. Some characters are given one chapter to tell their memorable stories; others, such as Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, become the central focus of the narrative as we follow them from pre-war innocence to bitter disillusionment.

Vollmann is a fantastic writer: relentless in describing the horrors of the war; insightful and exacting in bringing these historical figures back to life. He wants to show you the terrible choices people had to make in those times, and the ways in which they tried to maintain their moral and artistic integrity in the face of such brutal regimes as Nazism and Russian Communism. The stories are incredibly moving, and even more so because we know the events they describe are based in truth.

I found it fascinating that a contemporary American writer would chose to write exclusively about the German and Russian experience of war, with no voice at all from the Allied nations. Because he chose this, he forces his Western audience to think deeply about events that have been so neatly tied up in the history books. The characters are drawn on the edges of morality, where there is no right and wrong, only survival or death, and Vollmann digs deep into the issues of complicity and innocence that are often glossed over when discussing war.

William Vollmann's previous fictional works have been criticized as being too long and extraordinarily complex for the commercial market. "Europe Central" is complex, but also readable and entertaining, and was awarded the 2005 National Book Award. Readers of serious fiction will welcome the publication of such an accessible novel from an often overlooked and very talented writer.