''Last Train Out'' is a 1940

thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspe ...

by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. A prolific and popular writer since the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

, it was one of his final works and takes place in the build-up to and early stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was notable for its sympathetic portrayal of all the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

characters, from an author who had in the past sometimes relied on more negative Jewish stereotypes.Turnbull p.101

Synopsis

Shortly before the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

British diplomat Sir Phillip Mildenhall encounters the

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

Leopold Benjamin in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Benjamin manages to smuggle out his precious works before the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s arrive and then disappears. Mildenhall helps several

Austrian Jews The history of the Jews in Austria starts after the Jewish diaspora, exodus of Jews from History of ancient Israel and Judah#Roman occupation, Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the cour ...

escape the country. Later the two men meet up again in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

shortly before the city's fall to German force in 1940.

References

Bibliography

* Carter, Ian. ''Railways and Culture in Britain: The Epitome of Modernity''. Manchester University Press, 2001. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Turnbull, Malcolm J. ''Victims Or Villains: Jewish Images in Classic English Detective Fiction''. Popular Press, 1998. 1940 British novels Novels by E. Phillips Oppenheim British thriller novels British spy novels Novels set in Vienna Novels set in the 1930s Novels set during World War II Novels set in Paris Hodder & Stoughton books {{1940s-WWII-novel-stub