The Eagle's Height by Robert Elliot

[Black Max 72]

I've read a lot of books about WWI as I'm sure most everyone on this forum has and I'm especially fond of Derek Robinson's work both his WWI and WWII stuff, I love his dark humour and his protagonists are not always very likeable which makes them far more interesting but there is one book in my collection that I keep going back to and I'm just curious to see if anyone else here has read it and what they think. It's call the Eagle's Height by Robert Elliot. It's a rather obscure book printed back in the 60's and I would imagine it would be long out of print and therefore rather hard to come by but if you can track it down it is a pretty good read and has a cracker of an ending. It follows the fortunes of a young RFC pilot called Paul Hammond from when he joins an FE2b squadron right through the war. The author also has Paul interact with real figures like Mannock and Brown and has him involved in some pivotal events of the air war like the like the disastrous introduction of the Biff as well as Richthofen's death among others. It also deals with the effects of PTSD that these pilots suffered both during and after the war. All in all it's a good read even if a bit dated by today's standards, oh and as an added bonus it has some rather beautiful illustrations.

Dave Rickard
Rockhampton QLD
Australia

[Dave Brewer]

Thanks for the heads up Dave,just scored one for a good price,there are plenty of copies available from Abe at the moment.
Cheers.

[lcarroll]

   Thanks for the perspective and info, I just ordered one from Abe Books for literally "small change"!
Cheers,
Lance

[Black Max 72]

No worries guys, I went and had a look at abe books myself and was quite surprised at how many copies there were available and how reasonably priced they are. It's good to know, my copy is still hanging together pretty well but is showing it's age so I'm happy to know I'll be able to pick up a replacement when the time comes. I hope you like it, I don't think my brief synopsis does it justice.

Dave Rickard
Rockhampton QLD
Australia