Don Panama on his book An Immaculate Illusion

Our guest speaker on Tuesday evening was Don Panama accompanied by his wife Catherine, who delivered a brief presentation of his latest book ‘An Immaculate Illusion’, a historical fiction based very much on fact, in relation to a group involved in the creation, actions and fall of the Third Reich.

Don was born in London, attended Hastings Grammar School, eventually graduating from Manchester University. He spends as much time as possible visiting his family’s plantations in El Salvador, whilst maintaining an interest learning about the people and their culture. In his later years, Don has been advising and instructing bilingual schools in El Salvador on how best to improve English and History studies. His lifelong passion for history was fueled by reading ‘Plutarch’s Lives’ as a young boy, providing him with an in-depth knowledge of ancient and military history in El Salvador and Germany.

Having travelled extensively, he is now retired and lives in Ayr where the tranquility of the region encouraged him to embark on his recent book titled ‘An Immaculate Illusion’, the subject of his talk.

Don Panama’s historical fiction book “An Immaculate Illusion,” which looks at the rise and fall of the Nazi regime, was released in January. Described as “historical fiction based very much on fact”, it is the story of a group of mostly men, but some women, involved in the creation, actions and fall of the Third Reich.

Their hatred of one another and focus on self-glorification and acquisition meant that they had little or no regard for their peers. Backstabbing and treachery were a daily occurrence.

How did this travesty of a Nazi government make it as far as it did?

Hitler was a man with little intelligence, little education and no ability to lead or plan and yet this travesty of a government survived much longer than it should have. In the book Don traces Hitler’s steps from his lowly beginnings as a private in the German army to his death in 1945.

Neil Beattie gave a worthy vote of thanks