Aces Wild, A Tale of the Pacific War
by Odgers, George
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good Condition/Good
- ISBN 10
- 0867773405
- ISBN 13
- 9780867773408
- Seller
-
Yungaburra, Queensland, Australia
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Sydney : Child & Associates, 1988. First Edition. Hardcover (Original Cloth). Very Good Condition/Good. Octavo (standard book size). Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact Text body is clean, and free from previous owner annotation, underlining and highlighting No foxing in this copy All edges clean, neat and free of foxing Boards have slight shelf wear Set on the fictional Pacific island of Balanai in the final stages of World War 11, this novel tells the story of a group of six men-fighter aces -driven to desperate measures by the unreasonable orders of their commanding officer.As the Japanese forces were defeated in major engagements to the north of Balanai and with the 'island hopping' strategy of the US forces, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers were left behind on the bypassed islands to 'wither on the vine'. The RAAF forces on Balanai were no longer in the front line of the action and their contribution could not affect the end result of the war.However, the commanding officer, former World War I hero, Air Commodore Arnold Tremayne Blandy, desperate to get his men forward with the Americans and be part of the last advance against the Japanese, orders his pilots to keep up a high rate of operational effort (beyond that which was actually required), flying missions against the remaining Japanese ground forces.The men obey his orders and watch in despair as life after young life is needlessly wasted -all the time wondering which of them is to be next. Six of the fighter aces, led by Group Captain David Miller, find the continuing slaughter unbearable, and take the unprecedented step of formally tendering their resignations.
As the action rises to a crescendo, two of the pilots, Miller and Eddington, refuse a direct order from Blandy and are suspended from operations, with a charge of mutiny hanging over them.The author skilfully portrays the personality changes experienced by men under immense physical and psychological pressures. The reader follows the experiences of David Miller and the other pilots, and knows what it is like to live on the edge of the jungle and on the edge of death.
Yet, the reader can also follow with sympathy the deterioration of Blandy into a bitter, warped, ageing man obsessed with getting back into the front line of battle at any cost.
As the action rises to a crescendo, two of the pilots, Miller and Eddington, refuse a direct order from Blandy and are suspended from operations, with a charge of mutiny hanging over them.The author skilfully portrays the personality changes experienced by men under immense physical and psychological pressures. The reader follows the experiences of David Miller and the other pilots, and knows what it is like to live on the edge of the jungle and on the edge of death.
Yet, the reader can also follow with sympathy the deterioration of Blandy into a bitter, warped, ageing man obsessed with getting back into the front line of battle at any cost.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Spencer and Murphy Booksellers (AU)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 53221
- Title
- Aces Wild, A Tale of the Pacific War
- Author
- Odgers, George
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover (Original Cloth)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good Condition
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0867773405
- ISBN 13
- 9780867773408
- Publisher
- Child & Associates
- Place of Publication
- Sydney
- Date Published
- 1988
- Pages
- 200
- Keywords
- Military fiction Pacific War, military fiction, WWII, Japanese army, RAAF
- X weight
- 303.000 kg
- Size
- Octavo (standard book size)
Terms of Sale
Spencer and Murphy Booksellers
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Spencer and Murphy Booksellers
Biblio member since 2020
Yungaburra, Queensland
About Spencer and Murphy Booksellers
Books sourced from all over the world adorn our shelves. We carry a general range of books, some 18,000, including fiction and non-fiction in all genres. We stock collectibles, rare and antiquarian and many out-of-print books. Lonely Planet described Spencer & Murphy Booksellers as "the best bookshop in the North" and we are known as a treasure trove of books and often as Aladdin's Cave of Books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.