Merriam Press Historical Fiction. The late Pierre Gerard's historical war romance poignantly portrays the atrocities of war and what happens when individuals and nations ignore, unite with or combat those whose deliberate and declared intent is to intimidate, persecute, dominate and annihilate other people and countries. We learn about the boundless bravery that was France's salvation during those terrifying, turbulent years. We taste the unleashed, incomprehensible evil that man is capable of and the horrific anguish and extermination the Nazis successfully executed against Jews, dissidents, and those they deemed different and inferior, and therefore, unworthy of life. Le Havre is significant not just for France and Europe during World War II, as the ramifications of this historical novel and era also apply to present and future civilizations. It is my hope that the reader be awakened and inspired by the passion and positive activism of The French Resistance. 52 images.