Customer Reviews

Band of Eagles

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Band of Eagles carries on from Blue Man Falling taking the reader to a forgotten battle that may rate up there with the Battle of Britain in importance for Britains war effort in 1941. Had Malta fallen to the German/Italian alliance then the Desert War may have had a different outcome. I believe Malta was referred to as the' most bombed island in the world' suffering constant air attack from both Luftwaffe and Italian bombers and fighters and as a consequence was awarded a George Cross for sustaining those attacks. So with that in mind I would assume the book is full of aerial combat, taking the reader into the frightening world of the fighter pilot faced with a foe who had numerical and technical superiority. It does, but only in parts (and those parts are great)but not enough for this reviewer. Unfortunately I read Blue Man Falling a while ago and, by the time I read Band of Eagles, I struggled to remember the relevance of some of the characters, which made reading it hard.
Barnard knows his stuff and tells a good story but I feel that anyone picking up this book does so to read about fighter pilots and aerial combat during certain periods of WWII. So have this as you major subject, everything else is superfluous. Although, in saying this, he did touch on one of the characters working for SOE and parachuting into France but only in the last quarter of the book and then ended leaving everyone guessing what had happened.
The book is a good, easy read. One you would take and consume on a sunny beach over a couple of days. For the students of WWII it reaquaints us with a period of that war where a lot was owed to a few and could spark interest into studying it further. I'm sure there is another book in Mr Barnard and I hope this one concentrates on the main theme....aerial combat more than this book did. As I said, an easy read and continues the story and characters from Blue Man Falling. Worthwhile.

If you read and enjoyed the book "Blue Man Falling". Then you will most certainly enjoy reading this sequel. It is a fast moving read which propels you into the sitations that are believably presented on the pages of this book. Simply beause it catches the atmosphere and the moods of the time it represents. In short its brilliant. There are two main characters. An Englishman, Kit Curtis, and an American, Ossie Wolf. Both have endured the fall of France and the Battle of Britain and have survived due to their flying skill and of course one other main feature. Lady luck. Now they both find themselves on the same battle field once again in the fight to save Malta. So if like me you enjoyed the adventures of "Biggles", then cast them aside and plough into this big boys book. You will not be disappointed. Whereas you can let your imagination go wild amongst these pages without anyone knowing. Live your second childhood within the boundries of your mind and enjoy the read even more. Buy this book folks and you will find out for yourselves. Honest.