In The Company of Eagles

I’m still waiting for the book.

From inside flap: As he so brilliantly demonstrated in "The High and the Mighty" and "Fate is the Hunter," Ernest K. Gann has a unique ability to evoke the sense of lofty adventure, the mysterious exhiliration of spirit that is inherent in the very act of flight. It is his special gift to unshackle the earthbound reader, to release us from our daily humdrum - until we discover ourselves soaring in the company of eagles. Now in this, his finest novel, that gift is supremely manifest. The time is 1917. it is the eve of an appaling disaster - as General Nivelle and his poilus, desperate to expel the invader from their homeland, are about to hurl themselves at impregnable Hindenburg line. High above the bloodsoaked fields of France, fighting with equal desperation, flies a breed of young men who are either quick or soon dead. They are the airmen of the Royal Flying Corps, of the Imperial German Air Force, of the French Air Service - knights of the sky, last heirs of the chivalric tradition, dueling in their fragile flying machines, living with abandon, dying with glory. Gann takes us aloft with them - with the young Frenchman bearing the ancient name of Chamay, who has dedicated himself to personal vengeance, and with the veteran German ace Kupper, tormented by a love for his Vaterland and a loathing for legalized slaughter. It is the duel between these two brave men that is at the heart of the novel. From the opening pages to the final, climatic confrontation, the tension eases only when, for brief moments, we alight on earth. And even then there stands in wait the ominous figure of Pilger, the German private who is Kupper's batman, the clumsy, insensitive, cunning product of an education for death on the Eastern Front - the symbol of the beast that war can make of man. In the Company of Eagles moves us with its counterpointing of the noblest and the basest actions to which men can be stirred by momentous events. Here, on a great scorched and bloody canvas, Ernest K Gann has recreated the drama of mankind engaged in its first self-made mass calamity - its tragedy, its humor, its horror, and its heartrending gallantry.

This is another of those lost gems no longer in print and that is a true pity. This is one of the better novels about and concerning the air war of WWI. Gann is a master story teller and this character development is without doubt, some of the best. The action is quite good and quite accurate. This is one of those novels which you are tempted to give a reread ever so often. The author has done is research on this one, so not only do we get a great story, but a good history lesson to boot. Cannot recommend this one highly enough.

Superb prose in a gritty and vast WWI landscape. This is worth having, and reading over and over. This author has used some interesting ways of telling this story, and not just in the blood rivalry between the French ace Sgt. Chamay and his personal enemy, German Lt. Kupper. Look for some interesting subplots: the adventures of the ham from Kempinsky's, the comic (and sometimes dangerous) mishaps of Chamay's mechanics, and Sgt. Chamay's bicycle trip through the terrible aftermath of the Nivelle Offensive. The author has avoided the cliches about knights of the air. He spares nothing about the lethal and grisly nature of fighting, without parachutes, in what were little more than cloth-and-wood kites. And Chamay's battle with Kupper is not a duel but a search for vengeance: he wants to kill him, not joust. And the other people in the book! They're vivid; previous reviewers rightly praise Gann's characterizations. Another vivid character worth a mention is Chamay's squadron leader, Capt. Jourdan, "His Excellency" (not complimentary) to his unit, who shows some surprising changes. "For the seediest, most ineffectual officer they had ever known had taught them what it was to be a soldier of France." Here's hoping this book is back in print someday.

I have read this one many times. It is a personal favorite of mine. If you have any interest in WWI aviation this is the one novel to read. Brings both the gallantry and the despair of this war to the reader. Loved it.

Although I am a fan of Ernest K. Gann I had not heard much about this book before I found it at a used book store and decided to read it. It is a very enjoyable book about WW1 aviation. A fictional work centering on the experiences of two fighter pilots, one French the other German. Written by Gann during his halcion days as a best selling author (1965) it is an excellent read. It was a book of the month club selection when it first came out and is therefore rather plentiful at used book stores and book sales. If you want a hot tip on another of Gann's books that has been pretty much forgotten try Soldier of Fortune. One of his best even though it is not about Flying. Also made into a pretty good movie staring Clark Gable.