Customer Reviews

Remains: A Story of the Flying Tigers, gallant mercenaries who won immortality defending Burma and China from Japanese invasion

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Daniel Ford's non-fiction history the Flying Tigers is in a class by itself, and his novel "Remains" continues his work of reminding us that the members of the American Volunteer Group were real men who became heroes under the worst imaginable conditions.

His latest work, a novel, does a great job of creating the feel of Burma in 1941-42. The characters of Fitz and Blackie are all the more believable for their foibles and youthful innocence as the grim reality of war overtakes them. Mr. Ford writes equally well describing dogfights over Rangoon or social clashes in the caste-divided clubs below. "Remains", like his earlier non-fiction work on the Tigers, is a grittier but ultimately more heroic flip side to the John Wayne-fantasy versions of these remarkable but all too human warriors.

I read the original downloaded version of this book and I'm delighted to see it in hard copy. I highly recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in the AVG, the period, the East or aviation.

An absolute must-have for Flying Tiger buffs.

I was a great fan of Daniel Ford's history of the Flying Tigers, and because of that I checked out his novel about college students in the 1960s--"Now Comes Theodora" which I'm glad to see is back in print. So naturally I was excited to hear that he'd combined his two great talents, writing fiction and writing about military aviation.

Here's a novel about the Flying Tigers. The whole cast is there, including Claire Chennault and General George Marshal. But the heroes of the piece are American pilots Blackie and Fitz, their British and mixed-blood girlfriends, and a Japanese suicide pilot whose name translates as "tree of the sun"--Sergeant Hinoki, who is both sympathetic and blood-chilling. They meet, they fight, and some of them die. It's a cracking good yarn. -- Paddy

In any novel that's based on real events, it's a huge temptation to look for real people amongst the fictional characters. I suspect that Dan Ford had the famous Pappy Boyington in mind when he dreamed up the character of "Uncle Wiggly"--the hard-drinking, two-fisted pilot who lamed his knees in a landing accident at Rangoon. Likewise the sweet-natured squadron leader has got to be based on Bob Neale, who as a civilian was the high-scoring American fighter pilot in the spring of 1942. It's great fun picking these characters out of a story that pounds along like a novel by Jack Higgins.

Definately a five-star book. Anyone whose read Dan Ford's excellent history of the Flying Tigers will want to have this novel in his collection also. And anyone who hasn't, will find it the best possible introduction to the men of the American Volunteer Group--not to mention a Japanese air force pilot and some of the English and Burmese girls who populated Rangoon in the last days of the British Empire.

Mark Hallet in Denver

Dan Ford wrote an excellent non-fiction account of the American Volunteer Group, so he knows his subject. In "Remains," he draws from the colorful personalities of several real members to create his fictional characters--young mercenary fighter pilots who experience events that really did happen in the desperate days before the fall of Rangoon. "Remains" has a far more earthy quality than you'll find in any non-fiction work, making it a believable and highly enjoyable read.

The China-Burma-India theatre is the least-documented theatre of WW2. Here's a novel based on history, which educates you about that theatre and period without your even realising it.

The background that Dan Ford creates is impeccably accurate in almost every aspect -- the history, the military background, the technical detail, and the social and sociological environment. The characters ring true; right down to the way the pilots respond to bonus agreements, and the ground crew to the cornucopia of materiel that the Americans seem to bring in their wake, when they go to war. Against that authentically-reproduced backdrop, Daniel Ford tells a tale of young men from different environments, mainly American, but also British, Indian, Japanese, and New Zealander, flying and fighting and making love. Read this book, and give a thought to all those real-life men, who lived the real-life stories on which it's based. They really were a great generation. And this book is one they themselves would probably have enjoyed.

Mr. Ford's non-fiction book about the Flying Tigers is in a class by itself, and his novel "Remains" continues his work of making the AVG real men who became heroes under the worst imaginable conditions. Novel does a great job of creating the feel of Burma in 1941-42, and the characters are all the more believeable for their shortcomings. Highly recommended for anyone even slightly interested in the AVG, the period, the East or aviation. A must-have for Flying Tiger buffs. (This review refers to the electronic-book version)

Having read many histories of the AVG, I found myself trying to match up the main characters with historical figures. I gave up after about three chapters. The graphic sex descriptions added nothing to the value of the book IMO and in some cases detracted. All in all I got what I paid for but that same kind of information can be found in "Lady and the Tigers" without the unseemly parts.