| Title | : | Under the Radar |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 057127398X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780571273980 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published March 7, 2013 |
They would have done, at least, if this were not an exercise. This extraordinary raid (which actually took place) opens James Hamilton-Paterson’s remarkable novel about the lives of British pilots at the height of the Cold War, when aircrew had to be ready 24 hours a day to fly their V-bombers to the Western USSR and devastate its cities.
This is the story of Squadron-Leader Amos McKenna, a Vulcan pilot who is suffering from desires and frustrations that are tearing his marriage apart and making him question his ultimate loyalties. Relations with the American cousins are tense; the future of the RAF bomber fleet is in doubt. And there is a spy at RAF Wearsby, who is selling secrets to his Russian handlers in seedy East Anglian cafes.
A macabre Christmas banquet at which aircrew under intolerable pressures go crazy, with tragic consequences, and a disastrous encounter with the Americans in the Libyan desert, are among the high points of a novel that surely conveys the beauty and danger of flying better than any other in recent English literature.
Under the Radar Reviews
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The author of "Under the Radar" also produced a rather fine aviation book "Empire of the Clouds" and his knowledge of aircraft and flight come through and add a strong sense of realism to this work. The book follows a Vulcan bomber pilot through part of his career in the RAF and through various key stages of the Cold War. The descriptions of the life of a Vulcan crew in flight seem pretty convincing from my limited knowledge and give a sense of both the long periods of tedium and the brief moments of excitement demanding quick mechanical reactions. Borrowing extensively from real missions, including the classic simulated Soviet attack on the US mainland in which the RAF in the guise of the bad chaps wiped out a good part of US major targets without challenge thanks to the Vulcans boxes of electronic tricks. There is also a nice reference to the lack of concern shown towards aircrews with regard to protection from fallout when monitoring and sampling Soviet nuclear tests (in this case it sounds like a reference to the 1961 Tsar bomb).
The book really strips away a lot of the gung-ho glamour often associated with such fictionalised accounts of the services showing a disparate bunch of young men in the employ of a state, directed by it's masters to protect it from enemies within and without. The pressures and disgruntlement among the men is nicely conveyed. There is a background story around the personal lives of a number of characters including sexuality and the strains of being gay in the services at a time when being yourself was unacceptable. There is also a sympathetic treatment of the lot of service personnel wives, the poor housing, long periods of separation and the constant dangers faced by spouses even in peacetime activity. With the whole thing set in the at best of times bleak Fenlands it is all beautifully grim. The boneyard of wrecked aircraft provides a nice funereal constant through the pages and seems to reflect life for many on the base. That said there is plenty of humour, a lot of it very dark and of the time. Nutty slack and Watneys Red Barrel even make it into the pages.
I was given this book as a gift and I'm glad I was as I might not have come across it otherwise, (unless I'd made the connection with the author's name from "Empire Of the Clouds") or if I had might not have bothered to pick it up. It turned out to be a book that provoked some thought as well as being an enjoyable read. -
Not really sure what to make of this. It was well written enough that I wasn't put off by the writing but the plot is pretty minimal and it seems to be geared towards people with an interest in aviation, which doesn't include me.
