The Eagle Has Landed
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Product Description
Product Description
In the early morning hours of 6 November 1943, SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler receives the coded message he has been waiting for "The Eagle has landed."
It was to become known as the most daring enemy mission of the entire war: Operation Eagle, Himmler's audacious plan to kidnap Winston Churchill on British soil.
But, despite spectacular secrecy, there was to be no surrender without a fight ...
For in that remote corner of Norfolk, an elite unit is gathered together. Ready to do battle for a nation against the most ruthless task force ever assembled.
About the Author
Jack Higgins was brought up in Belfast and later moved to Leeds. Leaving school with no qualifications, he became a circus hand, a tram conductor and a teacher, before turning to writing.
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First Sentence
Someone was digging a grave in one corner of the cemetery at I went in through the lychgate. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Someone was digging a grave in one corner of the cemetery at I went in through the lychgate. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is November 1943, and the Second World War is in its fourth year. Adolf Hitler's Third Reich is fending off Allied advances in the Eastern Front and in Italy. German cities are being bombed "around the clock" by the American and British air forces. Across the English Channel, the Anglo-American forces are marshaling troops and making plans for history's greatest amphibious operation, which is tentatively scheduled for May of 1944.
But even though Germany has suffered great defeats in North Africa and the vast territories of the Soviet Union, Hitler still has hopes of winning the war. Desperately seeking a significant propaganda victory and inspired by the rescue of fellow dictator Benito Mussolini by a team of German special forces, the Fuhrer (egged on by SS chief Heinrich Himmler) orders the head of Military Intelligence (Abwehr) to carry out an even more daring special forces mission: to capture British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bring him to the Reich.
At first, it is an offhand remark, "a joke," as Abwehr Col. Max Radl notes, "...something the Fuhrer threw out in an angry mood on a Wednesday, to be forgotten by Friday." Soon, though, as Himmler orders a feasibility study and Radl ponders it, what seems like a fantastic notion soon starts looking as something that can, with the right men and conditions, be done.
This dangerous mission is assigned to Lt. Col. Kurt Steiner, the son of a German general and his American wife, and a small group of paratroopers. Their mission: to drop into East Anglia near the town of Studley Constable, where Abwehr agent Joanna Grey and IRA operative Liam Devlin are waiting to assist in the capture of Britain's wartime leader, and snatch Churchill from the estate where he is staying while on an inspection tour.
And so, in the early morning hours of November 6, 1943, as soon as Steiner's small band of paratroopers floats down onto English soil, Heinrich Himmler receives the coded message he has been waiting for with great anticipation: "The Eagle has landed."
Jack Higgins' bestselling novel was published almost 30 years ago, but its taut storyline and inventive blend of fact and fiction place this World War II thriller in the ranks of the best books of the genre. His descriptions of historical characters -- such as Adolf Hitler -- and his references to actual historical events give the whole scenario verisimilitude. All the characters -- hero, anti-hero, and even villains -- are well-developed and believable. Higgins also has the creative chutzpah of injecting a first-person narrator named Jack Higgins, making the book sound like a reporter's expose of a German mission so daring that it had to be covered up by the Allies.
The novel launched Higgins' career into almost instant fame, and in turn inspired a 1977 film version starring Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, and Joanna Miles. It was followed in the mid-1980s by a sequel, The Eagle Has Flown.
But even though Germany has suffered great defeats in North Africa and the vast territories of the Soviet Union, Hitler still has hopes of winning the war. Desperately seeking a significant propaganda victory and inspired by the rescue of fellow dictator Benito Mussolini by a team of German special forces, the Fuhrer (egged on by SS chief Heinrich Himmler) orders the head of Military Intelligence (Abwehr) to carry out an even more daring special forces mission: to capture British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bring him to the Reich.
At first, it is an offhand remark, "a joke," as Abwehr Col. Max Radl notes, "...something the Fuhrer threw out in an angry mood on a Wednesday, to be forgotten by Friday." Soon, though, as Himmler orders a feasibility study and Radl ponders it, what seems like a fantastic notion soon starts looking as something that can, with the right men and conditions, be done.
This dangerous mission is assigned to Lt. Col. Kurt Steiner, the son of a German general and his American wife, and a small group of paratroopers. Their mission: to drop into East Anglia near the town of Studley Constable, where Abwehr agent Joanna Grey and IRA operative Liam Devlin are waiting to assist in the capture of Britain's wartime leader, and snatch Churchill from the estate where he is staying while on an inspection tour.
And so, in the early morning hours of November 6, 1943, as soon as Steiner's small band of paratroopers floats down onto English soil, Heinrich Himmler receives the coded message he has been waiting for with great anticipation: "The Eagle has landed."
Jack Higgins' bestselling novel was published almost 30 years ago, but its taut storyline and inventive blend of fact and fiction place this World War II thriller in the ranks of the best books of the genre. His descriptions of historical characters -- such as Adolf Hitler -- and his references to actual historical events give the whole scenario verisimilitude. All the characters -- hero, anti-hero, and even villains -- are well-developed and believable. Higgins also has the creative chutzpah of injecting a first-person narrator named Jack Higgins, making the book sound like a reporter's expose of a German mission so daring that it had to be covered up by the Allies.
The novel launched Higgins' career into almost instant fame, and in turn inspired a 1977 film version starring Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, and Joanna Miles. It was followed in the mid-1980s by a sequel, The Eagle Has Flown.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I won't waste time explaining the plot as this has been done extensively and more than adequately by others. Suffice it to say that this is an excellent story, well-written and fast-paced, that stands the test of time. A cracking story that I would recommend you to read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a great book. If you like thrillers and a war setting then it's a must. The WWII scene can seem a bit tired in some stories now and the Germans just caricatures - people without feeling, sense or moral dillemmas. What was so inventive in this book is it is written from the German perspective about a special forces type raid into England to take out Churchill. However the men chosen for the mission are full of doubt over the validity and direction of the war and what they are being asked to do under the Nazi regime. Thus Higgins develops some deep characterisation and we want it to work out well for these guys, even though it probably won't. The book is well structured and well written - Higgins at his prime, in my view, as later the Sean Dillon series quickly descended into a formulaic process of screwing on a carswell silencer and taking a swig of bushmills every second page. Skip that go back to this book - it really is excellent.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
WWII Thriller
This has to be one of the best WWII thrillers to date! This book ranks up there with as one of the best. Well-played Mr. Higgins!
Published 2 months ago by Pugsley
Landing the Eagle
Typical Jack Higgins at his best. An excellent and almost believeable story. The twists and turns throughout are so much more extensive than the film would have us believe
Published 7 months ago by MR D BALL
The Eagle has landed
A war time classic ,A really well researched book as at the time it was written very little was known about the British free corps. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dave Williams
One of the Best WWII Thrillers
Probably like most contemporary readers of this World War II thriller, I first came across it as a Sunday afternoon film on TV when I was a child. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A. Ross
Gripping stuff
A very exciting thriller; if you have seen the film, the plot will be familiar. The final battle scenes are longer and more bloody and there is a minor difference in the final... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2009 by John Hopper
Thoroughly enjoyable
I first read this book when I was seventeen years of age. I loved it then and nearly ten years on I enjoyed it even more the second time round. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2009 by R. While
Paratroopers, the IRA and a British Village
The Eagle Has Landed has a strong resemblance to the wartime propaganda movie "Went the Day Well?" in which paratroopers land in England and occupy a village. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2007 by M. P. Crowther
Simply the best
Quite simply the best, most enthralling work of its kind. I remember reading this for the first time as a seventeen year old and being totally convinced that the entire plot was... Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2006 by Chunty
Compulsive page turner
No matter what anyone else says this is a really fantastic story set in war-time Britain - one of the best I've had the pleasure to read! Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2006 by I. Overend
After 3 decades, "Eagle" still thrills!
It is November 1943, and the Second World War is in its fourth year. Adolf Hitler's Third Reich is fending off Allied advances in the Eastern Front and in Italy. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2004 by Alex Diaz-Granados
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