Best Adventures of 1951 (9)
By:
July 13, 2016
One in a series of 10 posts identifying Josh Glenn’s favorite 1951 adventure novels. Happy 65th anniversary!
Hammond Innes’s WWII espionage/Robinsonade adventure Air Bridge.
Set in England during the Berlin blockade and airlift of 1948–49 (during which time the British RAF and other aircrews frustrated the Soviet Union’s attempt to gain practical control of that city), the novel’s protagonist, Fraser, is a war hero pilot turned mercenary. On the run from the law, he is taken in by Saeton, who offers him a job helping to build new-specification diesel plane engines. The plan is to demonstrate the efficacy of the engines during the Berlin Airlifts, and then establish a legitimate business manufacturing them. First, however, Fraser must sign up with the Airlift and steal a plane while flying over the Soviet sector. Will he do it… even if it means letting a friend die at the hands of the Russians?
Fun fact: Serialized here by HiLobrow.
Let me know if I’ve missed any 1951 adventures that you particularly admire.