Colin Willock (1919–2005)

This is one of those volumes from the 1980s and 1990s that presented the first deep forays by natural history film-makers and naturalists into exotic and stressed environments. This one deals with the ecology and animals of the oceans, ranging through sharks, whales, penguins, sea-birds, walrus and seal, polar bear, and so on. The value of such, admittedly out-of-date, books is that they give an unparalleled glimpse of nature as it was many decades ago (running parallel with the lives of the older generation of readers), and thus provides a valuable benchmark to judge the present state of affairs. These volumes, moreover, presented the subject in direct and simple terms, as the technology, hardware and money for very complex studies were probably not available.… (más)

This is a historical novel about the Lufftwaffe in WW II and the men who flew the planes, designed the planes and the political leaders who failed them. There men & women on both sides whose stories start in 1938 when they meet during a youth exchange. The English characters eventually join the RCAF and the German characters join the Lufftwaffe. As the war years pass, both sides see experience the bombing losing friends & family. The young men experience the fear and trauma of the constant fighting. As new planes are designed, the tide swings against the Nazis; but the Germans come up with their own weapons and planes such as the ME 262 jet. However Hitler & Goering mismanaged their resources and the Allies were able to overpower the Germans before they could put enough jets into service.

Willock does an admirable job of putting us behind the scenes on both sides of the battlefield. The flight descriptions are exciting and realistic. The descriptions of civilian life under wartime conditions, especially in Germany are first rate. At times it is difficult to believe that one is reading fiction.… (más)