A review by ewein2412
Going Solo by Roald Dahl

heh. recommended to me by Miriam, who noticed that it wasn't on my Flying shelf. That's because I read it long before I set up my Goodreads account! Dahl's account of the Battle of Athens is one of my touchstones - the desperation and exhaustion of the RAF pilots, their relative cluelessness about what's going on everywhere else, the hands that shake too much to hold a cigarette when you're back on the ground - it's incredibly vivid and has influenced my own writing. The rest of the book is jaw-dropping too, for its evocation of 1930s Kenya and Empire life there. Going Solo is perhaps not Dahl's most lauded piece of writing but it's certainly the one I recommend most often.

There! On my flying shelf now!