Tag: Paul Brickhill

Reach for the Sky

by Derelict Space Sheep on June 29, 2019 in 42 Word Retrospectives • 0 Comments

Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader DSO, DFC

by Paul Brickhill (W. W. Norton & Company, 1954); audiobook read by Robert Hardy (Chivers, 1991/2010)

Brickhill is firmly eulogistic (though not without cause) in detailing the extraordinary feats of double-amputee fighter pilot Douglas Bader, and also something of English life itself in the interwar period and during World War II. Robert Hardy’s audiobook reading captures the spirit.

The Great Escape (1951)

by Derelict Space Sheep on April 20, 2017 in 42 Word Retrospectives • 0 Comments

The Great Escape

by Paul Brickhill (Faber & Faber, 1951)

Brickhill’s eyewitness description of the infamous tunnel break from German POW camp Stalag Luft III — enshrined still further by the film of 1963 — remains a sincere and clearly written record, and a lasting testament to its protagonists’ spirit, ingenuity and sheer perseverance.