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Where Eagles Dare was the first Alistair Maclean book I ever read in High School. One of my buddies loaned me a copy, and I (figuratively) inhaled it. (I think I read it in a day or two.) It really is quite a fast read. This is an action, adventure, espionage, thriller set during World War II, that doesn’t really have a lot of characterization.
So if you enjoy being reading thrilling books, then Where Eagles Dare is the perfect choice for you One of the great things that separates Where Eagles Dare from most action and suspense novels is that although the book is bloody, the author (through the sensitivity displayed by the characters) does show a little more courtesy to human life than most action books now a days.
- (3.2K)
- Alistair MacLean
- Where Eagles Dare: Title
- Where Eagles Dare: Logline
- Where Eagles Dare: Plot Summary
- Where Eagles Dare: Analysis
- Where Eagles Dare: Alternative Cover
- Where Eagles Dare: My Verdict
- Where Eagles Dare: The Movie
- Want to Read/Watch It?
- Agree? Disagree?
The title of Where Eagles Dare is an inter-textual reference to Shakespeare’s Richard III: This kind of figurative allusion is a classic title generation technique. (For more on titles, see How to Choose a Title For Your Novel)
During World War Two a team of British spies attempt to rescue an American general from an impregnable castle in the German Alps but, when they discover there are double agents in the group, the team must discover who the traitors are and then escape against enormous odds. (For more on loglines see The Killogator Logline Formula)
Warning: Major spoilers are blacked out like this [blackout]secret[/blackout]. It’s early in 1944. The Germans have shot down and captured General George Carnaby, one of the planners of the upcoming D-Day invasion. They’ve taken Carnaby to the Schloss Adler, the Bavarian SS headquarters. The Schloss Adler is on top of a mountain, with only a cable ...
Plot
Where Eagles Dare has a roller-coaster Mission plot (see Spy Novel Plots), but it’s really all about the twists and the action. The story centred on the seemingly impossible mission, and with the twists coming at regular intervals, it compels the reader to turn the pages, desperate to find out ‘what happens next’.
Style
Alistair Maclean’s writing is as brisk and efficient as ever, with little in the way of literary flourish. He does though overuse adverbs, particularly in dialogue: For example this exchange:
Characters
As in Ice Station Zebra, the characters in Where Eagles Dareare thin. Alistair Maclean reuses his usual stock characters: 1. A cold, unflappable British hero, Smith. 2. A tough, wisecracking American sidekick, Schaffer. 3. A weak but beautiful love interest, Mary, who seems a bit more nervous than you might expect in a supposed top MI6 agent. The supporting characters, including all the Germans, have no real characterisation at all; they’re just extras. This kind of shorthand in writing and c...
The heart of the novel is the Schloss Adler. My cover tries to give a sense of its inaccessibility, brooding on top of the mountain. (For more on book cover design, see How to design a book cover)
One of the best action-centred, roller coaster rides of a spy novel ever written. Should be on every aficionado’s bookshelf.
Where Eagles Dare was filmed in 1968, starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. Brian G. Hutton directed it. The soundtrack was by Ron Goodwin, who also scored 633 Squadron. Because of the way Alistair Maclean wrote the movie simultaneously with the novel, it’s almost identical. The movie is more violent, with the heroes engaging in mor...
Here’s the movie trailer The novel of Where Eagles Dare is available on US Amazon here, and UK Amazon here, and the movie is available on US Amazon here, and UK Amazon here.
If you’d like to discuss anything in my review, please email me. Otherwise please feel free to share it using the buttons below.
Nov 14, 2019 · The classic World War II thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. Winter 1943, and US General Carnaby has been captured by the Nazis. He is being held in a fortress high in the Bavarian Alps. headquarters of the German Secret Service, and in his head are plans for the invasion of Normandy. A special team of British commandos ...
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- Paperback
May 4, 2004 · Where Eagles Dare. Paperback – Import, May 4, 2004. The classic World War II thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. Now reissued in a new cover style. One winter night, seven men and a woman are parachuted onto a mountainside in wartime Germany. Their objective: an apparently inaccessible castle, headquarters of the Gestapo.
- (3.2K)
- Alistair MacLean
Gain a complete understanding of “Where Eagles Dare” by Alistair MacLean from Blinkist. The “Where Eagles Dare” book summary will give you access to a synopsis of key ideas, a short story, and an audio summary.
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Where Eagles Dare. Alistair MacLean. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002 - Fiction - 272 pages. Forbidding peaks, resourceful commandos, beautiful spies, nonstop action, and neck-snapping plot twists make this the classic adventure thriller—the kind of page-turner that readers actually will find impossible to put down.
