The Eagle Has Landed (novel)

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The Eagle Has Landed
LC Class
PZ4.H6367 Eag PR6058.I343

The Eagle Has Landed is a book by British writer Jack Higgins, set during World War II and first published in 1975.[1] It was quickly adapted into a British film of the same name, released in 1976.

Plot

The book makes use of the false document technique, and opens with Higgins describing his discovery of the concealed grave of thirteen German paratroopers in an English graveyard. The characters discuss the historic rescue of Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini in September 1943. After Mussolini was deposed and imprisoned by the Italian government, Otto Skorzeny led a German team and achieved his release and escape from Italy.

Adolf Hitler, with the strong support of Heinrich Himmler, considered a similar plan to kidnap the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr (German military intelligence), is ordered to make a feasibility study of capturing Churchill and taking him to the Reich. Canaris realises that although Hitler will soon forget the matter, Himmler will not. Fearing Himmler may try to discredit him, Canaris orders one of his officers, Oberst Radl, to undertake the study, despite feeling that it is all a waste of effort.

An

Afrikaner woman and longtime Abwehr agent, lives. She detests England because she was abused and raped by British soldiers, and her husband, daughter, and parents were killed during the Second Boer War
. As a result of her reports, Radl devises a detailed plan to intercept Churchill and transport him to Germany. Although Radl is certain the plan has real possibilities, Admiral Canaris orders him to abandon it.

Himmler, however, has already learned of the scheme and summons Radl. He orders him to proceed, but without informing Canaris. In response, Radl arranges for

gamekeeper
to the estate of Studley Grange. While awaiting further developments, Devlin becomes romantically involved with Molly Prior, a girl from the village.

Meanwhile, Radl selects the members of the "

Jews at a railway station in Poland. To the outrage of the SS and Polizei, he took one of their men hostage and helped a teenage Jewish girl to escape on a passing freight train. For this he was court-martialled, along with his men, who backed his actions. Too highly decorated to face a firing squad, Steiner and his men were allowed to transfer to a penal unit in the Channel Islands. There they are forced to make high-risk attacks with human torpedoes
against Allied ships in the English Channel.

Radl travels to

Sten guns, M1 Garands, Bren guns and revolvers, as well as Browning Hi-Powers
, instead of German weaponry.

At first, the plan seems to go off without a hitch. But one of Steiner's NCOs rescues a young girl who fell into a mill race. He is killed by the water wheel and his German uniform (worn, by Himmler's order, under the Polish uniforms, as protection against being executed as spies) is seen by several of the villagers. Determined to continue the mission, Steiner arranges for the locals to be rounded up, but the sister of Father Vereker, the local priest, escapes and alerts a nearby unit of

US Army Rangers. Colonel Robert Shafto, an inexperienced but glory-seeking officer, rallies his forces to retake the hostages. Without notifying headquarters, he orders a foolhardy assault in which many Americans are killed. After the Colonel is shot in the head by Mrs. Grey, Major Harry Kane, Shafto's Executive officer in the Rangers,[5]
organises a second, successful attack.

Steiner, his second-in-command Ritter von Neumann, and Devlin escape with Molly's aid. Determined to finish the mission, Steiner allows Devlin and Neumann to escape without him and decides to make one last attempt at Churchill. He succeeds in reaching Churchill, but hesitates, is shot and supposedly killed. (However, Steiner reappears alive in

high treason
.

This account is surrounded by a

impersonator
, meaning that even if Steiner had fatally shot the man, the government would not have been affected.

Characters

Publication details

Reception

This book rapidly became a bestseller. As of 2010, it has sold more than 50 million copies.[7]

Adaptation

The film rights were purchased and an adaptation was quickly prepared. In 1976, a British film of the same name was released, the last film directed by John Sturges. It starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Jenny Agutter, and Robert Duvall. Its success also stimulated more book sales.

Sequel

Higgins wrote a sequel called The Eagle Has Flown, which was published in 1991. It was also set during World War II.

Higgins featured his character of

John Paul II.[citation needed
]

References

  1. ^ "The Eagle Has Landed". Fantastic Fiction.com.
  2. ^ Jack Higgins, The Eagle Has Landed, Collins, 1975, page 81: "he had been sent to New York to execute an informer who had been put on a boat to America by the police for his own good after selling information which had led to the arrest and hanging of a young IRA volunteer named Michael Reilly. Devlin had accomplished this mission with an efficiency that could only enhance a reputation that was already becoming legendary".
  3. ^ Jack Higgins, The Eagle Has Landed, Collins, 1975, page 82: "In 1936 he had taken himself to Spain, serving in the Lincoln Washington Brigade. He had been wounded and captured by Italian troops".
  4. battle for Leningrad
    . He had emerged from that affair with a bullet in the right leg which had left him with a slight limp, a Knight’s Cross and a reputation for that kind of cutting-out operation".
  5. Rangers and she remembered having read somewhere that they were the equivalent of the British Commandos
    ".
  6. ^ Graeme Shimmin (29 January 2014). "The Eagle Has Landed".
  7. ^ Crace, Interview by John (30 July 2010). "A life in writing: Jack Higgins". The Guardian.

External links

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