The Eagle Has Landed

It is November 1943, and the Second World War is in its fourth year. Adolf Hitler's Third Reich is fending off Allied advances in the Eastern Front and in Italy. German cities are being bombed "around the clock" by the American and British air forces. Across the English Channel, the Anglo-American forces are marshaling troops and making plans for history's greatest amphibious operation, which is tentatively scheduled for May of 1944.But even though Germany has suffered great defeats in North Africa and the vast territories of the Soviet Union, Hitler still has hopes of winning the war. Desperately seeking a significant propaganda victory and inspired by the rescue of fellow dictator Benito Mussolini by a team of German special forces, the Fuhrer (egged on by SS chief Heinrich Himmler) orders the head of Military Intelligence (Abwehr) to carry out an even more daring special forces mission: to capture British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bring him to the Reich.At first, it is an offhand remark, "a joke," as Abwehr Col. Max Radl notes, "...something the Fuhrer threw out in an angry mood on a Wednesday, to be forgotten by Friday." Soon, though, as Himmler orders a feasibility study and Radl ponders it, what seems like a fantastic notion soon starts looking as something that can, with the right men and conditions, be done.This dangerous mission is assigned to Lt. Col. Kurt Steiner, the son of a German general and his American wife, and a small group of paratroopers. Their mission: to drop into East Anglia near the town of Studley Constable, where Abwehr agent Joanna Grey and IRA operative Liam Devlin are waiting to assist in the capture of Britain's wartime leader, and snatch Churchill from the estate where he is staying while on an inspection tour. And so, in the early morning hours of November 6, 1943, as soon as Steiner's small band of paratroopers floats down onto English soil, Heinrich Himmler receives the coded message he has been waiting for with great anticipation: "The Eagle has landed."Jack Higgins' bestselling novel was published almost 30 years ago, but its taut storyline and inventive blend of fact and fiction place this World War II thriller in the ranks of the best books of the genre. His descriptions of historical characters -- such as Adolf Hitler -- and his references to actual historical events give the whole scenario verisimilitude. All the characters -- hero, anti-hero, and even villains -- are well-developed and believable. Higgins also has the creative chutzpah of injecting a first-person narrator named Jack Higgins, making the book sound like a reporter's expose of a German mission so daring that it had to be covered up by the Allies.The novel launched Higgins' career into almost instant fame, and in turn inspired a 1977 film version starring Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, and Joanna Miles. It was followed in the mid-1980s by a sequel, The Eagle Has Flown.

In my opinion, this is the very best Higgins book. It is the type of novel that once into it, the reader simply cannot put down, especially after the team lands in England.The premise of the story is a group of Germans that have a mission to kidnap Churchill. The leader, Kurt Steiner, a paratrooper, is a very compelling character, which makes th readers simpathize with him. On the other side is Liam Devlin, a former IRA fighter, helping the team in England. The story unfolds seamlessly, with the German team recruiting help in England of nazi simpathizers, then moving in and planning the kidnap at Churchill's country estate. As they are almost ready for the kidnapping, two children almost drown and one of the Germans tries to help them, blowing his cover. Then I should say no more, as the story becomes a thriller that the reader just cannot put down. It ends in an unexpected climax. Though early in Higgins' career, I think this remains his very best, though it does not mean his later books are bad, just that this one is really good.

If there are two Jack Higgins books you absolutely MUST read, then this one and also EYE OF THE STORM are top of the list! This is perhaps his best known one in the UK - in 1943, Germany plots the ultimate undercover operation where an assorted ragbag of NAzi sympathisers and German paratroopers(Kurt Steiner being the main character here) clandestinely invade England to kidnap Prime Minister Winston Churchill. One of the main protagonists is Liam Devlin, an IRA fighter who teams up with the Germans and enjoys a romance with farmhand Molly Prior throughout the story. Everything seems to go smoothly until two children almost drown and one of the Germans tries to rescue them - and the residents of Norfolk village Studley Constable(where a lot of the action takes place) soon discover what exactly is about to happen. At this pojnt, the action moves swifty and builds up to an unexpected climax. One wonders if such a thing really did happen during World War 2, on reading the closing lines in the book . . . you never know! A real page-turner, which, although written in 1975, is still a winner today.

So who would ever think to write a novel about a squad of German paratroopers trying to kidnap Winston Churchill during WWII? Apparently Jack Higgins did and does a good job of it. We sympathize with the German paratroopers not because we support their cause, but because we see them in a more human light. Colonel Kurt Steiner is only on this apparent suicide mission because he stuck his neck and his career out for a little Jewish girl. The story itself is fast-paced and jumps back and forth between Berlin and Studley Grange and everywhere in between. Higgins has a good plot to begin with but also sidetracks into some other subplots: romance, the English black market and the insanity of Reichsfuhrer Himmler (yes this book does take many shots at the real bad guys). All this combines for an explosive finale with a clever twist. You will certainly enjoy having read this book

How many writers do you know who can do that? Throughout the story, I was on the side of the Germans. Not exactly Germans, but this particular German team. Marvellous. I also recommend Thunderpoint by this author.