Hwelte [Paperback]

Roy McShane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2002

THE BEST KEPT RUSSIAN SECRET OF WORLD WAR II.By the close of World War II almost 1,000 Russian women had flown combat missions in every type of Soviet warplane. This was kept secret, not by the Soviets but by the Allies, from the general public in the West. Using historical fiction based on fact Roy McShane's exciting novel,HWELTE, reveals for the first time what truly deadly hunters these women fighter pilots proved to be. It also chronicles the adventures of a young American pilot, who stumbles across this secret, at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942.Author's Websites: www.thaiwave.com/hweltewww.phuketdir.com/hwelte

Product Details

• Paperback: 437 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (March 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595217826
• ISBN-13: 978-0595217823
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,048,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HWELETE, December 23, 2009

By 

rae (usa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hwelte (Paperback)

Written in story form the book is a lesson in history. You learn about a Najvo pilot fighter and some of the first women Russian fighter pilots.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thunderbird among the ACEs, January 13, 2004

By 

Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hwelte (Paperback)

Stalingrad 1941: "Hwelte" opens with as brutally graphic a scene of carnage as the beginning of the film "Enemy at the Gates". A procession of Russian civilians evacuating their embattled city has been attacked by a trio of Stukas. Relentlessly the German planes strafe the helpless crowd -- until a single bold, blonde Soviet fighter pilot arrives to the rescue.
Flagstaff 1942: US Army Air Transport pilot Chuck Hewitt visits his Navaho grandmother on the eve of his departure to war. The old medicine woman wants to impart to her half-White grandson his Native heritage. He will need the protection of his "hwelte" (Navaho word for a fortress or place of refuge). During a sweat-lodge ceremony, Chuck receives a vision of the Thunderbird -- and soars with a mystical golden-haired woman above the Arizona canyons.
Over the USSR: Chuck's LendLease B-25 becomes separated from its Russian escort and suddenly comes under Messersmitt fire. Chuck is wounded and struggling to keep his stricken plane aloft, until a bold Soviet fighter arrives to scatter the Germans and lead him to a Russian airfield. Just before he loses consciousness, Chuck sees a startling sight -- the wavy golden tresses of the woman pilot who has saved his life!
Stalingrad 1942: Chuck finds himself the guest of a Soviet fighter regiment whose air and ground crews are all women. In the course of his recovery, he begins to suspect that his heroine, Tamara, is the woman from his vision of the Thunderbird. "Hwelte" is a unique novel which combines Native American shamanism with a little-known aspect of World War ll. A lot of admiration and research went into this book, and it shows. Tamara's regiment is based loosely on the historical 586th. Her character and the deeds of her comrades are composited from actual female ACEs of that and other regiments. Such historical figures as Lilya Litvyak, Olga Yamschikova, Raya Belyayeva, Tamara Pamyatnykh, and Katya Budanova are readily recognizable to readers familiar with their biographies. The author's stated intent is to honor "these magnificent Russian women fighter pilots, and their sacrifices". And "Hwelte" does that. But it also occasionally suffers from the same political correctness as the film "Enemy at the Gates": heaven forbid it be accused of being "Red"! Captain Iosef Zelenko provides the mandatory Western conscience. This fictional officer does not remotely resemble Aleksandr Gridnev, the real-life CO of the 586th. Zelenko is British-educated, anti-communist; a genteel host but a mean (and scary) drunk after imbibing too much vodka. There are some other unwelcome Russian stereotypes, the most over-the-top being a tyrannical female commissar. And the women ground crew -- mechanics, armorers, medics, guards -- are too often described in unflattering terms: "heavy-set", "stout", even "beefy". (Given Chuck's constant griping about Stalingrad starvation-rations, one wonders how the regimental personnel managed to get so fat.) McShane's female pilots fare better; they are all beautiful and likable. Tamara's simple English made me smile; I could "hear" her accent! Although "Hwelte" alternately pleases and annoys, overall I appreciate and recommend the book. Thank you, spacibo, Roy McShane. The Soviet female fighter ACEs do indeed deserve recognition and respect, and "Hwelte" gives them both.

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly spellbinding novel, August 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hwelte (Paperback)

A truly spelbinding novel written with great vividness and sensitivity about the Russian women fighter pilots who fought so valiantly during WWII. An excellent and memorable book that is hard to put down.