Product Description

A look at the harsh life as a pilot on the Western Front, by the Booker Prize nominated author, Derek Robinson.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #368220 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Synopsis
'Derek Robinson does for the Royal Flying Corps what the War Poets did for frontline soldiers' - Daily Telegraph 'Beneath the insolent wit and ludicrous happenings is a novel essentially serious, whose full impact may be felt only in afterthought' - Sunday Times 'The descriptions of patrolling and aerial combat are superlatively well done...Stronger tastes will relish the whiff of battiness and brimstone.' - Times Literary Supplement Written by the Booker nominated author, Derek Robinson.

About the Author
Derek Robinson is an accomplished author of military fiction and has been nominated for the Booker Prize.

Customer Reviews

The antidote to Biggles
Derek Robinson is an undiscovered gem. War Story is part of his WW1 Trilogy and tells of the trials of a fighter squadron in France. It is an the antidote to Biggles. Robinson writes with wit and an insight into the cruelty of war as it destroys people mentally and physically. Thsi book has been out of print for a long time and I am very pleased to see it available again. Read this and you'll never stomach Tom Clancy again!

Grimly humorous tale of World War 1 flying
Bristolian Derek Robinson's books cover a range of interests, however my personal choice would always be his wartime fiction, either from World War 1 or 2.

New readers may find his penchant for developing a character only to destroy this "person" on a whim, rather disconcerting, however it effectively puts across the feelings of those serving during wartime, who meet new friends only to have these friends lost within a week or two. The flying sequences aren't overburdened with technical detail yet retain an authentic feel for those who are particularly concerned with "accuracy".

The non-flying sections are generally well paced, the slower parts generally being due to the occasional lyrical passage, where some hard-bitten character will contemplate the beauty of a sky in which he'll probably be fighting for his life later in the day. When reading these books I generally end up thinking "this would make a great film!", mainly because the great number of films on the subject never seem to strike the balance that Derek Robinson achieves with ease.

One book "Piece of Cake" was turned into a 6-part TV serial in England, however, that serial never quite hit the same note as the book, especially with the (occasionally grim) humour of the book almost entirely removed, particularly the more slapstick elements.

War Story and Goshawk Squadron both cover the World War 1 scenario in northern France and in this writer's opinion are examples of the best in Derek Robinson's writing, with War Story having the edge.

I think that anyone with an interest in this era of conflict, and the unique relationships which were forged during that time, will love these books. If there is any criticism to be levelled at War Story and its ilk, it would be that there is no obvious conclusion, no great struggle to a climactic apocalypse, but then anyone who has read about the facts of World War 1 in any detail will realise that this was the nature of that war.

Read, enjoy! If you can find a copy!