“Tomorrow they are going to chop off my head.”
This is how Leon ‘Lee’ Levin begins “Memoirs of a Traitor,” one of the two books he published this year. “Memoirs of a Traitor” came out in June. His fifth book, “The Exodus Diary,” was published in October.
All five of Levin’s books are historical novels. A historical novel aims to keep the facts true, while adding the thoughts and emotions of those involved, occasionally adding a character as well.
“The entire plot for the story has already been written,” said the 90-year-old Levin, who has been writing since he was in his 20s. “All it takes is bringing them back to life.”
Levin’s other books are “King Tut’s Private Eye,” “The Messiah of Septimania” and “The Day the World Trembled.” Unlike his other books, Levin said “Memoirs of a Traitor” had a peculiar origin.
“I had pretty much run out of historical plots that fascinated me enough to write about them. One day a thought hit me. Novels need to begin with a line that grabs the reader’s interest,” he said. “The line, ‘tomorrow they are going to chop off my head’ suddenly struck me. I thought it would be a great opening line. All I had to do was to find a historical event that would match the line.”
Levin’s research brought him to explore the life of Sir William Stanley, a man whose life could fit his opening line. Sir William Stanley ends up on trial for treason. He also plays a role in the demise of one king and crowning of another.
“In one of the strangest ironies in history, he finds himself on trial by the very king whose life he saved in combat,” Levin said.
Levin’s most recent book, “The Exodus Diary,” was written as a sequel to his first published novel, “King Tut’s Private Eye.” With the creation of pharaoh’s diary and through pharaoh’s perspective, Levin shows the Exodus in a new light.
“What has been discovered is the diary of the pharaoh of the Exodus, telling the tale of that epic event as seen through the eyes of pharaoh himself. And what a tale it is,” Levin said. “On the one hand, it confirms the historicity of the biblical account. But there is another side to the story — the pharaoh’s side.”
One of Levin’s other novels also has a Jewish theme. Levin said, “The Messiah of Septimania” tells “the virtually unknown story of the Jewish kingdom of Septimania that existed for 150 years in the south of France, with its first king being so charismatic that he was considered to be the long-awaited Messiah.”
Levin, who has a master’s degree in history from the University of Missouri, said he has chosen to write historical novels because he has always had a predilection for history. In fact, he said his home library has roughly 1,000 history books and his shelves simply cannot handle more.
“I have always had what I call a flair for writing,” he added.
While some of his writing has a Jewish flavor, Levin said, “It is not so much my Judaism that impacted my writing as the fact that I am Jewish.”
He was born in Minneapolis. His family moved to Kansas City when he was 2.
“So I guess that is close enough so that I can be called a lifelong Kansas Citian, even though I live in Leawood.”
A member of The Temple, B’nai Jehudah, Levin does not have current plans for another project, but noted, “That can certainly change.”
“I, of course, have great delight in people reading and enjoying my books. That is the purpose of writing them.”
Levin’s books are sold through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.