Winter

 is the prequel to the Samson series of novels.

Len Deighton explained 'For those who want to know what Berlin was like when Tante Lisl was a pretty young girl, and what the parents of Werner Volkmann or Ingrid Winter, and Bernard's parents too, were doing in that bizarre Berlin of the 'Golden Twenties' and its fearsome Nazi Thirties, I wrote Winter: A Berlin Family 1899-1945 ' [Author’s Note to Faith]

A limited number of characters from the wider series appear in this book as their younger selves, and the families of others also appear. In broad terms, it is the story of the Winter family of Berlin and of the family's friends and enemies.

Prologue
In 1945, Paul Winter meets with Fritz Esser because Esser has requested Paul to act as his defense counsel. Paul reveals that the prosecuting attorney is his brother, Peter.


 * Franz Schneider
 * Erwin Fischer
 * Fuchs Fischer
 * Hauser