The Violent Century

Lavie Tidhar's 'The Violent Century' unfurls as an intricate, alternative history, following the intertwined fates of two extraordinary individuals, Oblivion and Fogg, who served as British super-agents throughout the 20th century. Born from the crucible of a world awakening to superhuman abilities, these 'specialists' were the unsung guardians of the British Empire for seventy years. Their unbreakable bond is shattered in the aftermath of World War II by a hidden truth, irrevocably altering their shared destiny. Decades later, as elderly men, they are recalled to the enigmatic Retirement Bureau, an organization from which escape is impossible. Forced to confront their past, they relive dusty corridors, covert operations, and blood-soaked battlefields, wrestling with the moral ambiguities of their actions and the profound weight of unacknowledged heroism. Their final mission: to answer the timeless, impossible question of what truly defines a hero, as the century's violent legacy demands a reckoning.