BOOK DETAILS
Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1941147528 List Price: $17.99 U.S. Pages: 218 Published: 2014 |
Landfall (1940)
Nevil Shute With a new introduction by Rob Spence Due to copyright restrictions, this title is only available to customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Book Description
As wartime assignments go, Jerry Chambers doesn't have it too bad. By day he flies routine patrols over the English Channel, leaving his nights free for drinking and dancing with his girlfriend, the lovely barmaid Mona. Everything seems to be going right - until Jerry accidentally sinks a British submarine! Seeking to redeem himself, he accepts a transfer to a dangerous mission, risking his life to test an experimental and deadly new weapon that could help defeat Hitler. Meanwhile, back home, Mona thinks she has discovered proof of Jerry's innocence and sets out to clear his name - but will anyone believe her, and will she be too late? Based in part on real-life events that occurred during the Second World War, Nevil Shute's seventh novel, Landfall (1940), is a thrilling page-turner that draws on Shute's own experiences as a pilot and engineer. This edition features a new introduction by Rob Spence. About the Author: Nevil Shute (1899-1960) was one of the most popular and beloved British novelists of the 20th century. A prolific author, his works include the classics A Town Like Alice (1950) and On the Beach (1957), both of which were adapted as successful films. |
reviews
"Grips the reader . . . The story has pace and excitement, unforced sentiment and wholly unaffected gaiety." - Times Literary Supplement
"He knows how to build a story mounting page by page in suspense . . . a thriller if ever there was one, and a classic thriller at that." - New York Times
"Admirably written . . . full of drama and good humour." - Evening Standard
"He knows how to build a story mounting page by page in suspense . . . a thriller if ever there was one, and a classic thriller at that." - New York Times
"Admirably written . . . full of drama and good humour." - Evening Standard
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Nevil Shute Norway was born in London in 1899 and was educated at the Dragon School and Shrewsbury School, Shropshire. Though he completed training at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Shute suffered from a stammer which prevented him from being commissioned. Instead, he served in the British army as a private beginning in August 1918 and afterwards read engineering at Balliol College, Oxford.
From an early age, Shute demonstrated an interest in airplanes, and in 1923 he began working for de Havilland Aircraft Company. During this period, he learned to fly and wrote books in his spare time. His third novel to be completed was his first to be published, Marazan (1926), and it was quickly followed by others, most of them stories of romance and adventure dealing with pilots and aviation. He published under a shortened version of his name, Nevil Shute, in order to keep his writing of popular novels separate from his reputation as an engineer.
In 1931, Shute married Frances Mary Heaton and in the same year founded an aircraft construction company, Airspeed Ltd., which became a major airplane manufacturer in Britain by the end of the decade. In 1938, the board of his company asked Shute to resign; the generous settlement he received allowed him to devote himself to writing full time. His novels during this period often focused on the Second World War and were extremely popular both in England and abroad.
In 1948, Shute flew his own plane to Australia and back and, feeling oppressed by British taxation, emigrated to Australia with his family two years later. His greatest successes, many of them set in Australia, date from this period and include A Town Like Alice (1950), Round the Bend (1951), which he considered his most important work, and his most famous novel, On the Beach (1957).
Shute died in 1960 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
From an early age, Shute demonstrated an interest in airplanes, and in 1923 he began working for de Havilland Aircraft Company. During this period, he learned to fly and wrote books in his spare time. His third novel to be completed was his first to be published, Marazan (1926), and it was quickly followed by others, most of them stories of romance and adventure dealing with pilots and aviation. He published under a shortened version of his name, Nevil Shute, in order to keep his writing of popular novels separate from his reputation as an engineer.
In 1931, Shute married Frances Mary Heaton and in the same year founded an aircraft construction company, Airspeed Ltd., which became a major airplane manufacturer in Britain by the end of the decade. In 1938, the board of his company asked Shute to resign; the generous settlement he received allowed him to devote himself to writing full time. His novels during this period often focused on the Second World War and were extremely popular both in England and abroad.
In 1948, Shute flew his own plane to Australia and back and, feeling oppressed by British taxation, emigrated to Australia with his family two years later. His greatest successes, many of them set in Australia, date from this period and include A Town Like Alice (1950), Round the Bend (1951), which he considered his most important work, and his most famous novel, On the Beach (1957).
Shute died in 1960 of a cerebral hemorrhage.