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teebark's review
4.0
This is a great WW II thriller, with a truly innovative twist. The Germans know they are losing the war, and even this stunt may not change things, but it's a fantastic PR opportunity. They're going to kidnap Winston Churchill.
They draft some interesting characters, including an Irish expatriate, Liam Devlin. Liam is a leader in the IRA, and a cold blooded killer. However, he gets himself in trouble almost immediately, by falling for a local beauty. He tries several times to resist the temptation, but he cannot make the final break.
In the meantime, Liam also helps set up the logistics for the kidnapping, and the Germans send in a group of paratroopers on the fatal evening before the kidnapping is supposed to take place.
Liam is quite a character, mixing a sharp wit with a devious mind, that doesn't miss a trick. He's able to keep everyone off balance. But, uncharacteristic of the fiend the world knows him as, he makes some surprising decisions, usually concerning Bonnie, the girl he has fallen for, But not always--there are a few surprises for you.
You can probably guess the conclusion, but the ending is every bit as ingenious as the book's plot. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.
They draft some interesting characters, including an Irish expatriate, Liam Devlin. Liam is a leader in the IRA, and a cold blooded killer. However, he gets himself in trouble almost immediately, by falling for a local beauty. He tries several times to resist the temptation, but he cannot make the final break.
In the meantime, Liam also helps set up the logistics for the kidnapping, and the Germans send in a group of paratroopers on the fatal evening before the kidnapping is supposed to take place.
Liam is quite a character, mixing a sharp wit with a devious mind, that doesn't miss a trick. He's able to keep everyone off balance. But, uncharacteristic of the fiend the world knows him as, he makes some surprising decisions, usually concerning Bonnie, the girl he has fallen for, But not always--there are a few surprises for you.
You can probably guess the conclusion, but the ending is every bit as ingenious as the book's plot. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.
smcleish's review
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in April 2000.
Probably one of the best known and biggest selling thrillers of all time, The Eagle Has Landed has certainly overshadowed the rest of Jack Higgins' career. I've read several of his other novels - each of which seems to have a quoted review on the back saying that it is his best work since The Eagle Has Landed - and they're mainly third rate, not even up to the standard set by the worst parts of this one.
The story of The Eagle Has Landed concerns an attempt to kidnap Churchill during the war by a group of paratroopers dropped on the north Norfolk coast, after German intelligence learns that he is to be staying in a manor house there after making a speech in Kings Lynn. The purpose of this is to produce a propaganda victory that will shock the Allies into the negotiation of peace as the possibility of a German victory looks more and more remote.
The Eagle Has Landed succeeds because the idea is interesting, a reversal of the plot of many thrillers about British SOE style operations (such as The Guns of Navarone), and the characters are not just stereotypes, from the Norfolk villagers to the German paratroops, the IRA man and the Boer-born spy who are the ground contacts for the Germans. These last two are a nice touch, a reminder that not all those who were apparently British were patriotically devoted to the war effort. (There is also a member of the British Frei Korps, the SS regiment of renegade British troops, who is dropped with the paratroopers.) None of them are the standard characters who populate Second World War thrillers; an example of different behaviour from the norm is that the eventual failure of the plot stems from one of the paratroopers diving into the mill stream to save a child, and having his German uniform exposed (it is worn under a Polish special unit one in an attempt to get around the Geneva convention, which specifies that fighting in the uniform of the enemy is forbidden).
The novel is not without flaws, including what seem to be small errors in a generally well-researched background. The idea that such a raid would have a massive effect on the war is perhaps a little far-fetched, though its propaganda value would no doubt be huge. The final twist I find massively unconvincing; it would be impossible to explain why without giving it away. Some terms are used with an anachronistic reference, the title being an example: its resonance is principally with the Apollo moon landings. The Eagle Has Landed nevertheless remains one of the all time classics of the thriller genre, and continues to be exciting even today.
Probably one of the best known and biggest selling thrillers of all time, The Eagle Has Landed has certainly overshadowed the rest of Jack Higgins' career. I've read several of his other novels - each of which seems to have a quoted review on the back saying that it is his best work since The Eagle Has Landed - and they're mainly third rate, not even up to the standard set by the worst parts of this one.
The story of The Eagle Has Landed concerns an attempt to kidnap Churchill during the war by a group of paratroopers dropped on the north Norfolk coast, after German intelligence learns that he is to be staying in a manor house there after making a speech in Kings Lynn. The purpose of this is to produce a propaganda victory that will shock the Allies into the negotiation of peace as the possibility of a German victory looks more and more remote.
The Eagle Has Landed succeeds because the idea is interesting, a reversal of the plot of many thrillers about British SOE style operations (such as The Guns of Navarone), and the characters are not just stereotypes, from the Norfolk villagers to the German paratroops, the IRA man and the Boer-born spy who are the ground contacts for the Germans. These last two are a nice touch, a reminder that not all those who were apparently British were patriotically devoted to the war effort. (There is also a member of the British Frei Korps, the SS regiment of renegade British troops, who is dropped with the paratroopers.) None of them are the standard characters who populate Second World War thrillers; an example of different behaviour from the norm is that the eventual failure of the plot stems from one of the paratroopers diving into the mill stream to save a child, and having his German uniform exposed (it is worn under a Polish special unit one in an attempt to get around the Geneva convention, which specifies that fighting in the uniform of the enemy is forbidden).
The novel is not without flaws, including what seem to be small errors in a generally well-researched background. The idea that such a raid would have a massive effect on the war is perhaps a little far-fetched, though its propaganda value would no doubt be huge. The final twist I find massively unconvincing; it would be impossible to explain why without giving it away. Some terms are used with an anachronistic reference, the title being an example: its resonance is principally with the Apollo moon landings. The Eagle Has Landed nevertheless remains one of the all time classics of the thriller genre, and continues to be exciting even today.
hcq's review
3.0
Solid, taut thriller. Surprising sympathy for the bad guys, in this sort of book, though I suspect this author has a more nuanced view of the world than, say, Tom Clancy (though I should read more of him before I say that).
The movie version maintained the sympathy, which was nice to see.
The movie version maintained the sympathy, which was nice to see.
rosseroo's review
4.0
Probably like most contemporary readers of this World War II thriller, I first came across it as a Sunday afternoon film on TV when I was a child. But when I saw the audiobook at the library the other day, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to revisit a story I only remembered the outlines of. The book begins in a graveyard in a small English village on the Norfolk coast, where Higgins (the author) is futilely seeking the grave marker of an 18th-century American sailor as part of his research for a freelance article he's writing for a nautical magazine. In the course of this, he stumbles across a hidden gravestone from 1943 engraved with the names and ranks of a platoon of German paratroopers. When the local churchman attempts to run him off the property, he is determined to dig deeper, and so unwraps the secret tale of German paratroopers sent to abduct Winston Churchill.
Apparently Higgins felt there were a lack of English-language books that portrayed German soldiers in World War II as anything other than foaming-at-the-mouth Nazis, and wished to present a more balanced depiction in keeping with his own experience. The idea was to present a thrilling scheme organized and conducted by largely sympathetic professional German soldiers with the help of somewhat less sympathetic, but nonetheless engaging traitorous helpmates. Indeed, the backgrounds of these two traitors -- one is an IRA hit man, the other a Boer widow -- is none too subtly calibrated to highlight the injustice and cruelty of British imperial rule. Although the IRA man probably has the most time on the page (and indeed, returns in five more books by Higgins), there's no protagonist as such, and the cast includes a bevy of German intelligence officers, a village full of typical stolid citizens, and a unit of American troops commanded by a kind of loose cannon (presumably meant to illustrate the ill discipline of the American cousins), not to mention the German commando unit itself. Everyone is kind of a stock character without very much depth, but that's pretty much OK for a thriller like this.
The book's opening graveyard scene appears to be a direct nod to the 1943 film When The Day Went Well (itself based on a Graham Greene short called "The Lieutenant Died Last"), which also opens in a small English village graveyard with a memorial to a platoon of German paratroopers. That story and film, which posit a small force bent on sabotage, must have clearly inspired Higgins, who then raised the stakes to the highest possible level in his version. On the whole, the book is a pretty fun read, and very well paced, with the action moving back and forth between the various players involved (including Himmler). It does get a little heavy-handed at times, especially the scene in which the true identity of the Germans is revealed, but it's all pretty ingenious and well-executed fun, chock full of interesting little details such as the British Freikorps and things like that. Well worth reading by aficionados of WW II thrillers.
Apparently Higgins felt there were a lack of English-language books that portrayed German soldiers in World War II as anything other than foaming-at-the-mouth Nazis, and wished to present a more balanced depiction in keeping with his own experience. The idea was to present a thrilling scheme organized and conducted by largely sympathetic professional German soldiers with the help of somewhat less sympathetic, but nonetheless engaging traitorous helpmates. Indeed, the backgrounds of these two traitors -- one is an IRA hit man, the other a Boer widow -- is none too subtly calibrated to highlight the injustice and cruelty of British imperial rule. Although the IRA man probably has the most time on the page (and indeed, returns in five more books by Higgins), there's no protagonist as such, and the cast includes a bevy of German intelligence officers, a village full of typical stolid citizens, and a unit of American troops commanded by a kind of loose cannon (presumably meant to illustrate the ill discipline of the American cousins), not to mention the German commando unit itself. Everyone is kind of a stock character without very much depth, but that's pretty much OK for a thriller like this.
The book's opening graveyard scene appears to be a direct nod to the 1943 film When The Day Went Well (itself based on a Graham Greene short called "The Lieutenant Died Last"), which also opens in a small English village graveyard with a memorial to a platoon of German paratroopers. That story and film, which posit a small force bent on sabotage, must have clearly inspired Higgins, who then raised the stakes to the highest possible level in his version. On the whole, the book is a pretty fun read, and very well paced, with the action moving back and forth between the various players involved (including Himmler). It does get a little heavy-handed at times, especially the scene in which the true identity of the Germans is revealed, but it's all pretty ingenious and well-executed fun, chock full of interesting little details such as the British Freikorps and things like that. Well worth reading by aficionados of WW II thrillers.
lnatal's review
3.0
From IMDb:
Oberst Steiner, a German parachute unit commander, is sent to England on a covert mission to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bring him to Berlin. The seemingly impossible assignment becomes more and more feasible as the mission grows nearer with Steiner and his men arriving in England to a very real possibility of success.
Oberst Steiner, a German parachute unit commander, is sent to England on a covert mission to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bring him to Berlin. The seemingly impossible assignment becomes more and more feasible as the mission grows nearer with Steiner and his men arriving in England to a very real possibility of success.
manuel_d78's review
3.0
A historical fiction novel that borders to the area but does not step into Turtledove territory.
The story in very short: A crack paratrooper team from the German army in Nazi Germany during the end of the Second World War gets the opportunity to head into England and kidnap or kill the British premier, Winston Churchill.
As the novel does not change known history, the constraints are tight.
We do know for a fact that the premier was neither kidnapped nor killed. So we do know for a fact that this German team did not succeed.
So what is the book about, if we already know the failure?
The book also treats the problem of setting up a hero that clearly belongs to the morally wrong side.
Kurt Steiner is setup as an Ubermensch anti-hero, leader of almost equal battle hardened warriors.
He is an officer and gentleman.
A problem with many heros of the military kind is the setup of their background. The battle history of this team is chain of bullet hells that is enough to mentally break a man. The author gives signs of that in the general exhaustion of the men. More realistically, they are probably at that point in their experiences not for for service anymore.
What the story can tell and how the narrative moves from plan to action and keeps being interesting while the end is known, is for you, the reader, to find out.
The story in very short: A crack paratrooper team from the German army in Nazi Germany during the end of the Second World War gets the opportunity to head into England and kidnap or kill the British premier, Winston Churchill.
As the novel does not change known history, the constraints are tight.
We do know for a fact that the premier was neither kidnapped nor killed. So we do know for a fact that this German team did not succeed.
So what is the book about, if we already know the failure?
The book also treats the problem of setting up a hero that clearly belongs to the morally wrong side.
Kurt Steiner is setup as an Ubermensch anti-hero, leader of almost equal battle hardened warriors.
He is an officer and gentleman.
A problem with many heros of the military kind is the setup of their background. The battle history of this team is chain of bullet hells that is enough to mentally break a man. The author gives signs of that in the general exhaustion of the men. More realistically, they are probably at that point in their experiences not for for service anymore.
What the story can tell and how the narrative moves from plan to action and keeps being interesting while the end is known, is for you, the reader, to find out.
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