In 1974, Antony Easton’s father, Peter, ran as a Liberal candidate for the European Parliament. His slogan was “Vote Easton, made in Britain”. But Peter wasn’t “made in Britain”. It wasn’t until he died that his children discovered who he really was. Going through a brown leather suitcase full of old newspaper clippings, foreign bank notes and mysterious documents, they found a German birth certificate that had their father named as “Peter Eisner” – and with it, the first breadcrumbs of a trail leading back to a forgotten fortune.
If The House at Number 48 were a Second World War thriller, it would be a bestseller. Antony’s family story has it all: a billionaire steel tycoon whose company, we are told, was the turn-of-the-century German equivalent of Uber; handwritten diary entries telling of chauffeurs, country estates and adults whispering about Nazi threats; a painting that holds the key to the secret; a direct connection to Adolf Hitler in the form of the subframe for the Mercedes Formula One “Silver Arrow”, the fastest racing car in the world. “In the middle of that Nazi car was a Jewish engineer,” Antony reveals. That’s the twist, of course, in his father’s repressed childhood. The Eisners were Jewish. No prizes for guessing what happened to their business, property and art empire.
But that isn’t where the story ends. Antony is determined to track down the descendants of the people who stole his family’s fortune. He wants to meet them face-to-face. And he’s bringing the listeners of Radio 4 with him. Along with presenter Charlie Northcott, we follow Antony’s journey, guided by an immersive soundscape – birdsong, laughter, Weimar-era chamber music – back to the ornate townhouse in central Berlin that would have been his inheritance. It’s hard at times to remember that this isn’t fiction. Nor can it truly be called “history”. This is real life, after all, with real people living – and not living – at number 48. Either way, it will send shivers down your spine.
[Further reading: Radio 4’s literal guide to Animal Farm should have dug deeper]
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This article appears in the 30 Oct 2025 issue of the New Statesman, No More Kings