I finished reading "TILL THE BOYS COME HOME" several minutes ago. Reading it was like riding at times a boat down white water rapids. There would be moments of calm, and then -- WHOOM! tragedy and devastating sadness.

The novel carries the reader across the length and breadth of the year 1918. A year that started uncertain for Britain and many of the novel's main characters. The expectation was that Germany would launch a great offensive in the spring - now that Russia had withdrawn from the war, thus freeing up for Berlin several infantry divisions it could deploy on the Western Front against the British and French - and crush the Allies in a series of attacks before the Americans could enter in appreciable numbers to affect the outcome of the war. All the while, there is this war weariness that permeates every aspect of life both at the Front and in Britain, which is reflected in the Hunter family and their servants. There were a lot of ups and downs, as well as twists and turns in the story that caught me unawares. And -- along with Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' skill in making her characters come alive --- I was captivated with this novel. I simply had to know how everything would turn out. Now I need to catch my breath before reading Novel # 6 in the series.

"ONLY THE EAGLE DARES" continues from where 'The Eagle and the Albatros' left off.

It is late July 1917. Willi Wissemann, formerly the commander of Jasta 23b (a Bavarian fighter unit), is recuperating at home with his mother following a harrowing escape from French captivity. Despite the difficulties he had faced following the crash of his plane deep in enemy territory, his capture, and treatment for the severe wounds he sustained in the crash, Wissemann is consumed by the desire to return to frontline flying. He almost doesn't make it, following an altercation with a superior officer which results in him being demoted and placed with another Jasta in the Champagne sector, flying against the French. Wissemann has issues with his Jastaführer, but manages to avoid getting into any serious trouble owing to his proven abilities to lead pilots into combat and his remarkable fighting prowess in the skies above the Western Front.

All the while, tragedy on a personal level dogs Wissemann seemingly at every turn. But by January 1918, Wissemann is on the rise again, having been promoted back to Hauptmann and placed in command of Jasta 23b again. Along the way, Wissemann has rubbed shoulders with Anthony Fokker, the famous Dutch aircraft designer, and Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen himself, Imperial Germany's top fighter ace and leader of JG-1, the most famous fighter wing in the Imperial German Air Service.

Wissemann bravely puts himself at risk every day he flies over the Front. His enemy is now the British and he is back in the Somme sector, where he first flew combat in 1916 as a 2-seater pilot on artillery spotting, bombing, and reconnaissance missions. Again, as in 'The Eagle and the Albatros', the aerial combat sequences in this novel are very well written and compelling. As a reader, I could almost hear the whine of machine gun bullets while violently manoeuvring my fighter plane, trying desperately to stay alive whilst determined to bring down an enemy plane.

Yet, there were other parts of the novel that could have used additional editing. And some of the characters were little more than thumbnail sketches or caricatures. That's why I give "ONLY THE EAGLE DARES" three (3) stars. It's a good yarn but with a little more editing, it could have been a much better crafted novel. (less)

"THE EAGLE AND THE ALBATROS" is a novel centered upon a Bavarian (Willi Wissemann) serving as an officer in the Imperial German Air Service during the First World War. In some respects, it bears a similarity to the novel, 'The Blue Max', which was a best-seller in the 1960s.

The story begins in the spring of 1916, when Wissemann, freshly graduated from flight school (where he showed himself to be a highly skilled pilot) and a brief stint in a Flugpark in Valenciennes (ferrying planes to and from active combat units) is assigned to a 2-seater unit tasked with carrying out photo-reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions on behalf of the Army at the Front opposite British forces in the Somme River valley. No sooner than Wisseman arrives at his unit, his commanding officer (who is on non-flying status owing to a wound he sustained in combat) puts him in charge of a mission against the enemy. That struck me as so utterly INAUTHENTIC! What commander in his right mind would put a newly arrived pilot --- who knows nothing about prevailing frontline conditions and may not be wholly proficient in flying the aircraft with which the unit is equipped --- in charge of leading a combat mission?! Automatically, the novel lost some credibility with me. (From the First World War pilot memoirs I've read, normally a new pilot was tasked with flying a series of 'familiarization flights' to get a feel of the area of the Front where the unit was stationed, as well as learning to fly in formation with his squadron mates before being permitted to fly combat patrols.)

Notwithstanding that, the story of Willi Wissemann's time at the Front -- first with a 2-seater unit and later as commander of a Bavarian fighter unit flying against the French in the Champagne sector of the Front during the winter and early spring of 1917 --- is well-told. Wissemann is roughly 10 years older than the average pilot (30 years old in 1917) and had previously served with a front-line infantry unit from the outset of the war. He was also fairly well-travelled, in a relationship with a woman from a well-born, influential family (whose father detested him because of his humble origins in Bavaria), and spoke fluent French. It was this language skill that would put Wissemann into a precarious position when he volunteers to take on a mission flying a spy by night deep into enemy territory which would cost him his freedom --- and possibly his life. To say more would throw out too many spoilers.

On the whole, I liked reading "THE EAGLE AND THE ALBATROS" and appreciated the author's insertion of a glossary containing a lot of aviation terms unique to both the First World War and the Imperial German Air Service. I also enjoyed the air combat sequences, which were highly descriptive and very well-written. What I didn't like was the depiction of Wissemann's sweetheart Ilse von Linkhof., She often came across as this two dimensional woman constantly pining for her man at the Front, with melodramatic emotions boiling over. I think the author should have developed her character more to give the reader a fully-realized, multi-faceted woman. Not a cardboard sketch of one. For that reason --- and a few others, including some spotty writing --- I can only rate "THE EAGLE AND THE ALBATROS" with 3 stars. On the whole, it's a good novel. But I felt it could have been much better.

The novel begins on Christmas Day, 1916 and then quickly progresses into 1917. The war for the Hunter Family and its servants, as well as for Britain, has become all-consuming. No-one, not a corner of the country has been left untouched by the war's effects, both direct and indirect. Starvation looms as a distinct possibility in Britain as Germany's campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare (resumed in February) threatens to put a firm stranglehold on it, and cut the country off from its vital sea lanes that keep the nation supplied with the essential foodstuffs and materials with which to continue the fight. 

As for the Hunters, Diana the eldest daughter married to the sly, witty and irrepressible dandy Rupert (Lord Dene) is now with child. David, the eldest, is home permanently from France, where he sustained a serious wound to his leg (which he came close to losing) and is in a deep funk. He has been invalided from the Army and is at loss as to what the future might hold for him. Sadie, the other daughter, continues to work at Highclere, helped to break-in and train horses for the Army. The other 2 children in the family (William, 17, and Peter, 11) are also, in their respective ways, changing because of the war. 

There is so much more I would love to say. But that would be giving away much too much of what is a gripping, emotional roller-coaster ride of a novel. I became fully invested in the lives of many of its characters, several of whom suffer tragedy and heartache -- as well as love.

I've been a fan of Cynthia Harrod-Eagles as a writer for close to 15 years. She never disappoints. And now that I've finished reading "THE LONG, LONG TRAIL, 1917", I'm going to take a short break before plunging into the next novel in the series. 

Reading this, the fourth novel in the 'War at Home' series, has given me a keener appreciation of how the First World War impacted every strata of British society, not just those who served on active service on the various fighting fronts.

The Shobies: How would a sentient being perceive instantaneous "travel" to another point in space? James Blish wrote two stories about the effects of FTL travel on human perceptions, too. Bizarre stuff.