They Shall Not See The Dawn

The Manhunt for the Third Reich's Most Wanted

Published by Diversion Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
LIST PRICE $21.99

About The Book

An “Army of Werewolves” and the greatest manhunt in history. . . . After Hitler’s suicide, American intelligence feared that surviving Third Reich leaders were plotting a comeback with hidden weapons, rocket programs, and their Führer’s final testament. Bestselling historian Charles Lachman follows the unlikely band of citizen-soldiers in America’s Counter Intelligence Corps who tracked down Hitler’s inner circle and brought them to justice at Nuremberg.

May 1945. The Reich is in ruins. Hitler is dead. Yet for the US Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps, the real war has just begun.

They Shall Not See the Dawn is the true historical thriller following a secret unit of American agents, drawn from every walk of life, hunting Hitler’s inner circle—the dangerous henchmen still at large and feared to be carrying their Führer’s final political testament, orders for a guerilla resistance, and plans for rocket and nuclear programs hidden in mountain strongholds. It was a race against time to capture World War II’s most notorious Nazis before they could vanish or rally a new resistance.

The CIC men leading the greatest manhunt in history were scholars, motivated college students, an actor, linguists, young draftees and refugees—men like Henry Kissinger—armed not just with guns, but with intellect, intuition, and sheer daring. Their quarry included Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the monstrous Gestapo chief; Julius Streicher, Hitler’s notorious “Jew-baiter”; Robert Ley, master of slave labor; and other high-ranking war criminals desperate to escape justice. Against all odds, the CIC brought them down, ensuring their places in the dock at Nuremberg.

Told with cinematic urgency and timed for publication during the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg verdict and hangings, They Shall Not See the Dawn resurrects the heroic exploits of America’s “G-men in khakis,” the men who ensured that the architects of Nazi horror would never walk free.

About The Author

Charles Lachman is the author of one novel and five narrative nonfiction books, including the national bestseller Codename Nemo, Footsteps in the Snow, and The Last Lincolns. His books have been praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, the New York Post, and The Christian Science Monitor, and have been adapted into CNN and Lifetime docuseries.  

He is also the executive producer of Inside Edition, the most widely watched syndicated news magazine in the United States. He has been featured on CBS Mornings, CNN, MSNBC, History, Lifetime, C-Span, Sirius/XM, and other local and national programs. He lives in New York City. 

Product Details

  • Publisher: Diversion Books (August 25, 2026)
  • Length: 352 pages
  • ISBN13: 9798895151075

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Raves and Reviews

“I thought my post-World War II research was exhaustive. But Charles Lachman has topped me. They Shall Not See the Dawn—very relevant to today—moves quickly, and the reader will learn something on every page.”
Bill O’Reilly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killing the SS
 
“A timely, thrilling history of how some of the greatest villains ever were hunted down and brought to justice. I loved the pace and style. A must read for World War II buffs and all those who love a damn good true story.” 
Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The First Wave and The Liberator 

“When the guns fell silent in Europe in 1945, the final chapter of the war was only beginning: the frantic efforts to track down the major surviving Nazi criminals. Highlighting the role of the American and British soldiers who captured them, Charles Lachman vividly recounts their impressive but too-often overlooked exploits.”
Andrew Nagorski, author of Hitlerland and The Nazi Hunters
 
“With immersive writing that drops you into the smoldering ruins of World War II Europe, this harrowing narrative tracks the US Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps in their desperate hunt to capture Hitler’s surviving top leadership. Built on exhaustively detailed research, it’s history rendered with thriller-grade tension.” 
Neal Bascomb, New York Times bestselling author of The Winter Fortress and Hunting Eichmann 
 
“How the most notorious Nazi war criminals were caught and made to pay for their crimes. . . . Showcases the smarts that Allied sleuths employed to capture . . . the Nazi fugitives. . . . Glimpses of reprehensible Nazis like Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Göring, Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss . . . as they switch identities and sneak underground. . . . We also follow the extraordinary men, including many American-, British-, and German-born Jews, who were tasked with chasing down the regime’s most wanted, and . . . their often frightening but ultimately satisfying face-to-face encounters with real-life monsters. . . . History with the panache of a Howard Hawks war movie.”
Kirkus Reviews
 
“A visceral, heart-pounding account, They Shall Not See the Dawn is a cinematic thriller that proves no war criminal is out of reach. . . . Lachman masterfully recreates the greatest manhunt, told through the eyes of an unlikely band of scholars, linguists, and refugees in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse. This is narrative nonfiction as it’s supposed to be written.” 
Kevin Maurer, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of No Easy Day and author of Damn Lucky 

“Allied sleuths track down, interrogate, prosecute, and hang Nazis in this two-fisted WWII history. . . . with colorful backstories of the perps and the investigators hunting them. . . . In energetic, hard-boiled prose, the author renders an atmospheric story of desperate men facing a bleak but well-earned comeuppance. . . . A riveting portrait of Nazism as a species of squalid criminality.”
Publishers Weekly
 
“Charles Lachman illuminates a lesser-known epilogue to World War II, when the pursuit of justice for atrocities committed by the Nazis was anything but certain: Could the war criminals be found? Would they even be alive to arrest? Would the Allied High Command bring them to justice? You can feel the urgency that overwhelms Lachman’s characters as they answer these questions and uncover the insidious networks of the Third Reich. They are the quiet heroes and relentless investigators who refused to let the Nazi architects of human rights violations disappear. This is a gripping account of unfinished business and of the effort to restore the soul of humanity on an international stage.”
Matthew Black, author of Operation Underworld

Praise for Charles Lachman's #1 National Bestseller, Codename Nemo 

“Charles Lachman weaves the incredible story of the capture by American forces of a German U-boat and its secrets during World War II, an operation which allowed Allied forces to shock the German Navy. Richly detailed with undeniable suspense and action, Codename Nemo is destined for the non-fiction best seller lists.”
—Bill O’Reilly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Killing Series

“It’s an exciting account of a daring military maneuver.”
Publishers Weekly

“A satisfying World War II history.”
Kirkus Reviews

“Crisp as a torpedo striking the water, Codename Nemo pulls you along with a deeply personal account of the hunters on both sides of an amazing drama.”
—Walter R. Borneman, author of The Admirals and Brothers Down

“A relentless, pressure-packed plunge into the depths of war. . . . A story-telling tour-de-force indeed, the quintessential story of the Battle of the Atlantic, rendered in taut prose, and with an immediacy and intimacy that all but makes a participant of the reader.”
—James Sullivan, author of Unsinkable

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