Pick Up Across The Blood-Red Skies Narrated By Robert Radcliffe Digital Copy

really a book about war, this is more a book about how the experiences of war affect people: in particular, how it affects its main protaganists, primarily told as the memoirs of one of those characters.


While it jumps around a bit sections with events set before the preceding chapter, then forward again to events after the first section, then back again.
. . it is quite an enjoyable read, which pulls no punches when it comes to the horror of th war, both in the trenches and in the air.

Pretty awful disappointed as I enjoyed Airborne very much, I tried to read this a couple of months ago, and I'm still muttering to myself about it, so I guess I'd better get it out of my system.


Rated two : the are for the flying scenes, They're brilliantly immersive I was right there in the cockpit above the fields of France, Terrifying, solid and real. Unfortunately the first chapter piled on the awful to such an extent that I started laughing, which is perhaps not what was intended, It was the First World War! It's not necessary to hype the awfulness to a ridiculous degree, we all know it was awful! And laughter's not a desirable response to WWunless one's watching Blackadder Goes Forth.


So I started skipping, There was a love triangle, At the apex of the triangle or I should say vee, since I don't think our heroes loved each other that way was a potentially

good character, a woman ambulance driver.
I'd've liked to see her as something more than a prize for one of the male characters, but I couldn't that's what love vees do to this reader.
She rescued a baby from down a well, Obviously she had to be nurturing, because that's what teh ladiez are, . . facepalm I don't think she got fridged, though, which is something to be thankful for,

I lost interest in Tauriel Emily, and skipped to the end, Turns out our POV character shot down the Red Baron.
So many fictional characters do this that it's a wonder the man survived as long as he did, let alone became the most feared ace of the war.
He seems to have been very easy meat, second facepalm Honestly I find this disrespectful both to his many, many victims and to the man himself,

But as I say, the flying sequences are completely brilliant,
When I found out that the author of sitelinkUnder an English Heaven had written a novel about flying in the First World War, I couldn't grab it quickly enough.
's Bloody April is the backdrop for a story of three people and their intertwined lives: George, who has fled emotionally distant parents and trouble at school to fly FE'Bathtubs' over France, Mac, his Canadian pilot friend with a dangerous secret, and Emily, witnessing horrors as she drives an ambulance for the FANYs and tries to work out what she really wants from life.


The story skips back and forth through, switching between point of view characters and from first to third person as it goes.
This was slightly offputting at first, but when I began to see the bigger pattern I found the device compelling, Wonderful drama about friendship, romance, coming of age, all caught up in a merciless bloody war, I found this to be a fantastic read, great detail during the battles, best book I've read for a long time, No holds barred

This tale provides an unabridged account of air warfare over the trenches of the front line in northern France during.

It does not flinch from describing the physical, mental and moral horrors endured by very young men,
However, it also relates the complexities of life brought into that theatre of operations and the inevitable diversions available to very few both combatants and noncombatants.

An excellent book I had to read in stages, Spring. Under furious attack both from the ground and the air, the average survival time of a First World War reconnaissance pilot is eighteen hours.
George Duckwell, reluctant novicehero of the Royal Flying Corps, is living on borrowed time, Having joined up to escape disgrace at home, George can only watch in horror as a succession of comrades inexperienced, undertrained and hopelessly idealistic are shot down, burned, maimed and killed, while somehow he survives.
Struggling to make sense of the conflict, George forms an awkward friendship with William 'Mac' MacBride, an enigmatic Canadian ace, waging his own private war against the legendary Red Baron.
But when Mac falls for George's sweetheart frontline nurse Emily heartbroken George learns that Mac's mysterious past is darker than he imagined, and the fragile bond that keeps the two men alive comes under threat on the eve of the most lethal conflict the modern world has known.
A rattling good yarn of people struggling with disrupted lives, Although a little confusing at times I found the plot convincing, the details accurate and the overall effect compelling,
There are other books on the subject and this stands amongst the best of them I think, You feel for these men and women thrust into the maw of the Great War, at first keen to resolve their own dilemmas but then these gain a whole new perspective set against this massive conflict.

I really enjoyed reading stuff I did not know so much about such as the incredible work of the women's FANY organisation, The author shows us views of a war from several viewpoints from gassing in the trenches to the daily hell of airborne conflict no holds barred so at times it is not for the squeamish.

All gets resolved in the end though it is tinged with sadness nonetheless, I shall now read his other books on wartime exploits such as Dambuster, Whew, one helluva book Robert Radcliffe is fast becoming one of my favourite authors! This I will admit was a bit of a departure for me from my usual reading choices but I like to explore other works and I will admit this was a very compelling read.
It followscharacters through the first world war though it concentrates on George Duckwell a fictitious character realistically inserted in to historical events in and around the Royal Flying Corps.


The book for me having never flown an aeroplane let alone one of the craft described in this book portrays the gritty and horrifying events of the war from which overmillion are estimated to have died.
I am always in two minds over military stories based in real conflicts, The first is that should we really be seeking entertainment from some of the most horrific events in our history perpetrated by our fellow man but at the same time events like this created some of the most dramatic and powerful character forming moments.
As many a cliche goes it is the furnaces of war that a mans spirit is forged,

And I must admit I did appreciate that one of the characters in the story was a female volunteer in the civilian ambulance service.
I know that Robert Radcliffe has written a number of other books which I think I will take a closer look at now after reading this.
A captivating story set in the Great War WW I, narrated through the life of three individuals, A British teenager who became a fighter pilot at a time when pilots in his squadron lasted hardly a week, A Canadian Ace pilot who has the most kills in the British side and a Lady ambulance driver who, allactive participants of the war with entirely different roles and allwere runaways from their beloved homes due to unforeseen circumstances.
The plot seamlessly intertwines their lives throughout the entire war, The British perspective of the war and the machines of war are well portrayed and the German ace, the famous "Red baron" makes numerous thrilling appearances in the story.

A must read for all for sure!! This is a pseudonym for sitelink Robert Mawson, This is a pseudonym for sitelink Robert Mawson, sitelink.