Eagles at War - Softcover

Boyle recycles the major characters from Trophy for Eagles to tell the story of aviation's development as a decisive weapon in WW II. Frank Caldwell, now a hard-hitting Air Force general, and still-hot pilot Frank Bandfield match wits and skills with Nazi Germany's production genius Bruno Haffner and Luftwaffe ace Harold Josten in this episodic work, in which the principal plot lines involve America's search for a long-range escort fighter and Germany's efforts to introduce jet and rocket weapons. Although more constrained than its predecessor by the need to adhere to historical events, this novel nevertheless skillfully integrates fact and fiction. While the work is not technically a roman a clef, knowledgeable readers will have no difficulty identifying the Bell Airacobra as the model for Boyne's misbegotten "McNaughton Sidewinder." And if Eagles at times exaggerates the personality factor in U.S. aircraft design and procurement policies, the novel is correspondingly successful in conveying the byzantine realities of a Third Reich that spectacularly failed to fight its war with its scientific and technical expertise.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

YA-- The story of the buildup and growth of the airplane industry and the Air Force is well told in this fictional account of World War II. Fight scenes between aircraft are taut and dramatic, many real people make an appearance, and lots of descriptive data about the types of airplanes being built and their problems is included. While the focus is on the growth of the American industry, problems of the German expansion of their aircraft manufacturing are well covered also. Unfortunately, the dialogue between the men and women is somewhat trite, and the fictional characters are stereotyped. The men are very manly, and the good women stay home and cheer their men on. Those women who work are portrayed as cold and calculating. Even so, Boyne has captured the mood of the times, and there's a lot of technological information sure to please aviation buffs and students interested in the attitudes and events of this period. --Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.