Out of relentless research, Peter Monteath and Valerie Munt’s Red Professor: The Cold War Life of Fred Rose (Wakefield Press) presents an engrossing portrait of the short twentieth century from Rose’s birth during the Great War to his death in Berlin shortly after the Wall comes down. The result is unputdownable for its sweep of events while causing us to reflect on how someone can be heroic and horrendous, appalling and admirable.