The Eagle Has Landed: Amazon.ca: Jack Higgins, Christopher Cazenove: Books

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Review

"First rate...a fascinating adventure story." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"The master's master of World War II spycraft storytelling.... A superb and mysterious tale." -- United Press International --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Book Description

In the quiet seaside village of Studley Constable, a beautiful widow and a cultured IRA assassin set the groundwork for the ultimate act of treachery. On November 6, 1943, Berlin gets the coded message "The eagle has landed!" 4 cassettes.

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Higgins Created a New Formula with this One, Aug 24 2010

By

Jeffrey Swystun (Ottawa & New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Eagle Has Landed (Mass Market Paperback)

First published in 1975, The Eagle Has Landed, sets up a wild adventure with an incredible cast of characters to carry it out (and to meet it). The professional and highly capable Oberst Steiner is very engaging as is the enigmatic and charming Devlin. It is a fun romp with decent historical accuracy. What Higgins did so successfully is to have the reader confused about who they are rooting for! I love the line from Steiner, "Difficult decisions are the privilege of command".

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5.0 out of 5 stars Higgins' classic WWII thriller stands the test of time......, Feb 17 2004

By

Alex Diaz-Granados "fardreaming writer" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Eagle Has Landed (Mass Market 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.

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4.0 out of 5 stars by far Jack Higgins' best book, July 10 2003

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mackattack9988 "mackattack9988" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagle Has Landed (Mass Market Paperback)

This Higgins classic is a suspenseful tale of World War II intrigue. Interesting characters on both sides of the plot and an unpredictable conclusion. If you only read one Higgins book, this should certainly be it.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible character development and mediocre storytelling.
This book was a significant disappointment for me. I purchased and read this book simply based on the fact that I had read books with a similar theme by Ken Follett and enjoyed... Read more

Published on July 3 2003 by R. Beier

5.0 out of 5 stars The #1 classic
It's been a while since I read this awesome WW 2 adventure. I still remember the story though. A crack team of German paratroopers are sent to England to kidnap or kill Prime... Read more

Published on Jun 20 2003