![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
“Stiffen the crows!”
The story begins when Biggles’ buddies bring him the news that von Stalhein has been spotted in London, undoubtedly up to no good. They better do something immediately, like report him!
Biggles’ response is to launch into an impassioned defense of spies in general, von Stalhein in particular, and to shoot down the suggestion that they report him or that von Stalhein should get an office job. He comes of a proud Prussian family and that would be beneath his dignity! (Bertie, who is a lord, points out that it wasn’t beneath his dignity.)
Indeed, von Stalhein is up to no good, enticing British guardsmen to desert and join an “international brigade.” Biggles gets enlisted to figure out what exactly he’s up to and stop him.
Biggles and von Stalhein have several meetings in which they basically flirt before regretfully recalling that they are on opposing sides. I should mention that the adverb most commonly used to describe von Stalhein is “suavely.”
The climax occurs in China, which I was worried about but in fact the level of racism is surprisingly low. There’s a major Chinese character, a medical student who assists in a rescue, who is portrayed very sympathetically, without use of phonetic dialect, and is not a national stereotype but an actual character who insists on being parachuted in because he’s always wanted to try that.
This book has a more modern/realistic feel than many of them. Spies are resentful and underpaid, and the whole story is more in the tradition of Le Carre than James Bond.
The story begins when Biggles’ buddies bring him the news that von Stalhein has been spotted in London, undoubtedly up to no good. They better do something immediately, like report him!
Biggles’ response is to launch into an impassioned defense of spies in general, von Stalhein in particular, and to shoot down the suggestion that they report him or that von Stalhein should get an office job. He comes of a proud Prussian family and that would be beneath his dignity! (Bertie, who is a lord, points out that it wasn’t beneath his dignity.)
Indeed, von Stalhein is up to no good, enticing British guardsmen to desert and join an “international brigade.” Biggles gets enlisted to figure out what exactly he’s up to and stop him.
Biggles and von Stalhein have several meetings in which they basically flirt before regretfully recalling that they are on opposing sides. I should mention that the adverb most commonly used to describe von Stalhein is “suavely.”
The climax occurs in China, which I was worried about but in fact the level of racism is surprisingly low. There’s a major Chinese character, a medical student who assists in a rescue, who is portrayed very sympathetically, without use of phonetic dialect, and is not a national stereotype but an actual character who insists on being parachuted in because he’s always wanted to try that.
This book has a more modern/realistic feel than many of them. Spies are resentful and underpaid, and the whole story is more in the tradition of Le Carre than James Bond.
