In Nazi Germany, twenty-year– old graphic artist Cioma Schönhaus found a unique outlet for his talent: he forged documents for people fleeing the Reich, ultimately helping to save hundreds of lives. Even as the Gestapo posted his photo in public, he lived a daringly adventurous life, replete with fine restaurants and beautiful women, all the while managing to elude the Nazis until he could escape in the most unlikely of ways—by bicycling to Switzerland.

“A catalog of hairbreadth escapes, clever ruses, and brazen coups” (New York Times), The Forger is an astonishing and remarkably buoyant tale of wartime heroism and survival.