Shariful Sadaf's Reviews > The Eagle Has Landed

'The Eagle Has Landed' was a great book with an intriguing plot. I have always wondered if the Nazis had attempted to assassinate leaders or top generals like Eisenhower. The Nazis certainly had the capability and the personnel to do it, as fictitiously depicted in this novel concerning Churchill. For this review, I will consider the merits (or lack thereof) of such a plan, then focus on the few main characters, and finally the writing itself.

A plot such as this looks very much believable but not realistic. Such a mission would probably be suicidal, and the benefits not worth the costs.

First, the movement of someone like Churchill would be a top guarded secret on a need-to-know basis within the British intelligence agencies like MI-5, especially specifics like dates, timings, locations, and routes. Security was one of the reasons why Churchill rarely left the area around London. It would be farfetched for someone outside of the uppermost levels of military intelligence to get the knowledge of Churchill's visit months ahead of time. Higgins does a good job bypassing that issue in the final chapter (no spoilers!).

Second, even if German spies in London had full knowledge of the movements, it would require lead time for the Nazis to form a meticulous plan. Training and preparation of their assault commando unit would be necessary months ahead of time. Weather, tides, flying conditions for insertion, and U-boat/E-boat movement for evacuation. The required complexity for such a plan would be too much.

Finally, the Nazis didn't have the assets to risk as the war progressed. Top-notch German paratroopers would be required to be sacrificial lambs, which the Nazis couldn't waste. Kidnapping or assassinating Churchill in summer 1943 by itself would not be enough to change the tides of battle. The formidable Russians had been pushing back from the east since winter 1941. The allies from the south had freed northern Africa by the time this novel takes place in 1943 & taken control of the Mediterranean. The continuous air barrage from the West kept the Nazis on the defensive. The Allied invasion of Italy was impending, and the invasion of France was in the works (still a year out). It was too late by mid-1943.

The Nazis' most opportune moment that arguably could have made a difference was in the spring/early summer of 1940, when Britain was most vulnerable. Mainland Europe had fallen, Scandinavia had fallen, America and USSR were far from entering the war, and the Nazis ran rampant in the Mediterranean Sea. The British parliament was in turmoil, one party arguing to make peace with Hitler and the other not in agreement. The Dunkirk evacuation had been the cherry on top for the Nazis. Churchill had just taken over as Prime Minister over a divided parliament after Chamberlain had resigned. That was the Nazis' moment to strike in summer 1940 during the British's lowest point of the war, killing off any remaining hope. As the war went on and eventually USSR/USA both began to alter the tides in 1942, the assassination/kidnapping plan became unrealistic to make a difference.

Regardless of the reasons against such a plan being realistic, the Nazis were getting somewhat desperate after their Russian invasion had become a failure in the winter of '41. They did not have many options remaining, but perhaps that might have forced them into desperation plays, anything that could provide some bargaining chip or military intel. Jack Higgins makes a compelling case here IF the Nazis had attempted such a daring plan, it might look like this.

The nuances in this book are well-researched and thought-out. The characters were deep, believable, and chiseled out very well. Especially the fictional German Colonel Steiner but more on him later. Cold-blooded Himmler popped up, and you found yourself hating everything about him. Himmler's personality was fairly accurately depicted as a psychopath human (if you can consider him a human). Hitler also made a brief appearance early on. There were some appearances by other Nazi SS officers popping in occasionally as part of the plot to build up the characters and the era.

German Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Steiner was depicted as an honorable, charismatic, brave, and exuberant soldier. He was the leader of the assault, and someone you found yourself respecting even though he was on the Nazi side. Perhaps it was intentional by Higgins. If you despise your main character, you would not want him to succeed or even finish reading. Steiner made it difficult to cheer against him. Steiner was a highly decorated German paratrooper. On the way back from USSR, he had stood up to an SS officer after saving a Jewish girl trying to escape from the Gestapo. Steiner's unit was also present and ready to attack the Gestapo on behalf of Steiner before he told them to stand down. Steiner was court-martialed afterwards and serving sentence at a penal colony before being recruited to kidnap or assassinate Churchill. As a reader, he had your respect the moment he stood up to the Gestapo and saved the young girl.

I do sometimes wonder if there were many German soldiers like Steiner, at least early on. The majority of the German military supported the Nazi movement, but I suspect some early German military holdouts did not support Hitler, Nazis, or the SS. These holdouts pretty much had to fall in line sooner or later or resign. It is unfortunate not enough in power stood up against Hitler's thugs early on when they had the chance in the early 1930s. Hitler used nationalism to draw in emotional support, and he made promises to make Germany greater than it had ever been. The final piece, of course, was the desperation faced by a severely impoverished & frustrated population who had given up on politics. The majority of the military fell in line along with the public, who I believe was desperate to believe in something. The German government was too inept and corrupt to stand up against Hitler. Any honorable or respectable soldier was driven out, pushed into line, or executed. The rest became history.

Other than Steiner, another main character was the fictional IRA soldier Liam Devlin, who had joined the Nazis and was guiding the paratroopers from the ground. There was also a German Colonel Radl, who was responsible for the planning of the kidnapping mission with direct orders from Himmler. On the Allied side were American Major Harry Kane and Colonel Robert Shafto, both responsible for the assault on Steiner's paratroopers.

Back to the novel. I believe this is a well-written novel if you are looking for a World War 2 thriller. The writing style is direct and quite enjoyable, focusing on the action. As I stated earlier, it's ultimately not a realistic plan, but if you get past that snippet, this is an excellent read worth checking out. I was not familiar with Higgins before this novel, but I expect to check out other novels by him in the future.