Nigel Wigmore, "The roar of the director and the snap of the clapper board", The Guardian, 17 July 1976: 9. After Mussolini was deposed and imprisoned by the Italian government, Otto Skorzeny led a German team and achieved his release and escape from Italy. Hitler, with the strong support of Himmler, considered a similar plan to kidnap British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Himmler is portrayed as one-dimensional, a sociopathic killer fanatically dedicated to the Nazi cause. Everything I’ve read about Nazi Germany supports this characterization. By contrast, every one of the other major characters, and many of the minor ones, are complex and credible. Devlin, Steiner, and Radl, in particular, are all eminently likable despite the roles they play in the plot.

The Eagle Has Landed” was also a very well-known phrase at the time, as it was the first phrase spoken on the moon after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed there in July, 1969. An allusion to a well-known phrase works well in a title. Hauptmann Erich Kraemer – a Fallschirmjager officer whose unit is enlisted by Steiner to thwart Himmler's assassination attempt on Hitler.

Now it’s 1943. Inspired by Otto Skorzeny’s daring rescue of Mussolini, Hitler has the idea of kidnapping British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The Eagle Has Landed: Title

In some ways a copy of the the original classic war novel and in other ways a bloody good yarn. Steiner & Devlin remain an interesting pair of antiheroes if there were ever any. I read this book because it was recommended by Reader's Digest as one of the best all time. Needless to say that they weren't wrong. I enjoy reading war & related fiction & have read many books but what Higgins presented here was beyond doubt extraordinary. Here are a few elements that I was amazed to see: Firstly, by 1943, the German network in Tehran had been neutralized by arrests, well before the conference was to take place. Secondly, it has been estimated that 3,000 NKVD agents were guarding Tehran for the conference and they did not note any incidents or threats. Thirdly both Roosevelt and Churchill travelled on foot or open jeep throughout their four-day stay in Tehran (unlikely were there an assassination squad of Nazis wandering around). Canby, Vincent (26 March 1977). "The Eagle Has Landed (1976)". The New York Times . Retrieved 25 September 2014. After the war, Otto Skorzeny, who the Soviets said was behind the plan, claimed it never existed and the story was Soviet propaganda.

Swern, Phil (1995). The Guinness Book of Box Office Hits. Guinness Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-670-7.The Household Cavalry". Archived from the original on 23 February 2015 . Retrieved 23 February 2015. Brig. Dougal Munro – Head of Section D of the SOE, who was assigned to hush up events at Studley Constable. Higgins died at his home in Jersey, [1] [14] on 9 April 2022, at the age of 92. [15] [16] [17] Bibliography [ edit ] N° Involves one or more Allies in their Mission (Optionally, there is a romance sub-plot with one of the Allies). a b Lovell, Glenn. Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges. University of Wisconsin Press, 2008, pp. 284–288.

Fact or Fiction: The writer did extensive research as explained well in the prologue & epilogue. In fact the research is as important to the plot as is the book. The only issue being central character of the plot was a heavy weight & I don't mean just someone I mean the big dog of WWII so it may be plausible that details of this operation never showed up cause the ramifications if they did, were dastardly for many forces around the world. I would leave that to you to judge; I for one feel that IT DID HAPPEN!!! Fully deserving of its status as a classic covert operations thriller. A must read. The Eagle Has Landed: The Movie On a recent night flight to England, I began ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ for a little diversion from two more worthy and substantial books. Before this reader had landed in London, I’d set them aside completely to finish off Higgins’ classic WW2 thriller over the next few weeks. Being part of his publishing for even part of his career has been a privilege – his passing marks the end of an era.” Confused IRA Professional: My second favorite character & God Blessed him with a great sense of humor. In fact all Irish men seem to have it...he seemed to have the most of it. In the whole book Devlin only once was genuinely sad otherwise it seemed to me that God gave him a little more of the "happy hormones" & none of the sad ones. He shows what the War did in terms of choices & cause & I have come to believe that "one man's soldier is another man's terrorist" is indeed true. Again Devlin lived till much later & met with the writer.First, Higgins has an eye for character in a way that Alistair Maclean , for example, never had. He uses that skill to make Steiner and Devlin as sympathetic as possible to the reader. In fact, to a modern eye, he potentially even goes too far, as anti-heroes are much more mainstream than they used to be. Michael Caine in the 1976 film The Eagle Has Landed, directed by John Sturges. Photograph: TCD/Alamy Second, the reader is being asked to accept a Nazi soldier and an IRA terrorist as sympathetic protagonists. I know, I know... on its face that sounds confusing and maybe even oxymoronical and may lead to a bit of head scratching or possibly even a mild rash. For that I'm truly sorry, but please slap some calamine lotion on your itches and give me a chance to explain before you dismiss me as an oxy or any other form of moron. Radl devises a plan to drop a unit of Fallschirmjäger paratroopers into Norfolk. They will drop one night and kidnap Churchill the next. The German Navy will then extract them by boat.