Synopses & Reviews
Filled with thrills, this novel by Booker Prize nominee Robinson also serves as a frightening exposé of the absurdities of the First World War. In 1916, Oliver Paxton enters the Royal Flying Corps a naïve young patriot. Pompous, foolish, and enthusiastic, he is determined to prove himself. But, as the realities of war, as well as the lax morals and casual cruelty of his fellow pilots, take their toll, Paxton becomes as disillusioned as those who surround him. "...superlatively well done..."--
Times Literary Supplement.
Review
"Robinson, a veteran of the RAF and expert student of early flying machines, writes about aerial combat in World War I
the way Hemingway wrote of hunting but with humor. This volume takes a schoolboy into France in the summer of 1916 and follows him from neophyte to fatalist in the weeks before the Somme offensive. Robinson's work beautifully combines the human, the organizational, and the mechanical—and thus on one level explores modern life. But first it introduces us to the diving characteristics of the BE2C and one's feelings as the earth comes up to meet him." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
Filled with thrills, this novel by Booker Prize nominee Robinson also serves as a frightening expose of the absurdities of the First World War. In 1916, Oliver Paxton enters the Royal Flying Corps a naive young patriot. Pompous, foolish, and enthusiastic, he is determined to prove himself. But, as the realities of war, as well as the lax morals and casual cruelty of his fellow pilots, take their toll, Paxton becomes as disillusioned as those who surround him. ..".superlatively well done..."--"Times Literary Supplement.