Charlie Connelly1 on the author-turned terrorist who led the attack on the Nakatomi Plaza building…
Charismatic, cultured and hugely intelligent, Gruber was perfectly equipped to become a shining light in the reunified Germany that was only a matter of months away at his death. If the ambition, daring and meticulous planning employed in the Nakatomi heist could have been harnessed for good at an early age, who knows what he might have achieved after the new European dawn of the early 1990s.
Well, he was certainly cynical enough to have ended up going into politics. Imagine Hans Gruber, having spent the last couple of decades working his way to the top of the European Commission, facing off against the masterminds behind the Brexit negotiations. (Or don't, please. So many smug bastards convinced of their own brilliance in one small room.)
[Via Happily Imperfect]
- NB: if you're not a subscriber you might find it tough to see the whole piece behind the paywall. It's worth digging out if you can. ↩