Partisans (novel)

Last updated

Partisans
Alistair Maclean - Partisans.jpg
First edition cover (UK)
Author Alistair MacLean
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre War novel
Publisher Collins (UK)
Doubleday (US)
Publication date
1982
Media typePrint
Pages224
ISBN 0-00-222690-1
Preceded by River of Death  
Followed by Floodgate  

Partisans is a novel by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1982. MacLean used portions of the plot from the 1978 film Force 10 from Navarone as the basis of the plot for this novel. MacLean reverted to the theme of the Second World War, with which he was successful and highly popular in his early career. However, as with many of his later novels, Partisans proved to be less than popular with his long-time fans.

Contents

The book includes elements of the film of Force 10 from Navarone (1978).

Plot introduction

During the Second World War, Pete Petersen, a Yugoslavian agent with an unlikely name, and his team of compatriots cross war-torn Yugoslavia to deliver a secret message and unmask a double agent.

It is not clear who Petersen is actually working for, as the plot meanders through the confusion of Yugoslavia's three-way civil war, with Communist Partisans, the Serb royalist Chetniks and the Croatian fascist Ustashe fighting as much against each other as against their Italian and German occupiers. Everyone's loyalties are uncertain. Obviously, the sardonic Petersen is not working for the Nazis, but what about those with him?

Reception

The New York Times said in the book Maclean "gives World War II the full [G.A.] Henty treatment: stilted writing about cardboard characters engaged in a desperate enterprise.". [1] The book became a best seller. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Guns of Navarone or Navarone may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alistair MacLean</span> Scottish writer (1922–1987)

Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably The Guns of Navarone (1957) and Ice Station Zebra (1963). In the late 1960s, encouraged by film producer Elliott Kastner, MacLean began to write original screenplays, concurrently with an accompanying novel. The most successful was the first of these, the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare, which was also a bestselling novel. MacLean also published two novels under the pseudonym Ian Stuart. His books are estimated to have sold over 150 million copies, making him one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George MacDonald Fraser</span> English-born author of Scottish descent (1925–2008)

George MacDonald Fraser was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven novels and one short-story collection in the Flashman series of novels, as well as non-fiction, short stories, novels and screenplays—including those for the James Bond film Octopussy, The Three Musketeers and an adaptation of his own novel Royal Flash.

<i>Force 10 from Navarone</i> (film) 1978 film by Guy Hamilton

Force 10 from Navarone is a 1978 British war film loosely based on Alistair MacLean's 1968 novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1961 film The Guns of Navarone. The parts of Mallory and Miller are played by Robert Shaw, and Edward Fox, succeeding in the roles originally portrayed by Gregory Peck and David Niven. It was directed by Guy Hamilton and also stars Harrison Ford, Carl Weathers, Barbara Bach, Franco Nero, and Richard Kiel.

Force 10 may refer to:

<i>Circus</i> (novel) 1975 novel by Alistair MacLean

Circus is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1975 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.

<i>The Guns of Navarone</i> (film) 1961 Anglo-American war film by J. Lee Thompson

The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 action adventure war film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, based on Alistair MacLean's 1957 novel of the same name. Foreman also produced the film. The film stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, Irene Papas, Gia Scala, Richard Harris and James Darren. The book and the film share a plot: the efforts of an Allied commando unit to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships in the Aegean Sea.

<i>Force 10 from Navarone</i> 1968 novel by Alistair MacLean

Force 10 from Navarone is a World War II novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It serves as a sequel to MacLean's 1957 The Guns of Navarone, but follows the events of the 1961 film adaptation of the same name. It features various characters from the film who were not in the book, and leaves out some major characters from the book.

<i>The Guns of Navarone</i> (novel) 1957 novel by Alistair MacLean

The Guns of Navarone is a 1957 novel about the Second World War by Scottish writer Alistair MacLean that was made into the film The Guns of Navarone in 1961. The story concerns the efforts of an Allied commando team to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships in the Aegean Sea and prevents over 1,200 isolated British Army soldiers from being rescued.

<i>South by Java Head</i> 1958 book by Alistair MacLean

South by Java Head is the third novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and was first published in 1958.

<i>Breakheart Pass</i> (novel) 1974 novel by Alistair MacLean

Breakheart Pass is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean (1922–1987), first published in 1974. It was a departure for MacLean in that, despite the thriller novel plot, the setting is essentially that of a western novel, set in the Sierra Nevada of the American West in the late 19th century. Fans of MacLean will recognize the usual plots twists, thrill-packed finale, and trademark sardonic dialogue. For American audiences, MacLean was less successful capturing an authentic tone of the western frontier, and the 1975 movie version starring Charles Bronson, Richard Crenna, Ben Johnson, and Jill Ireland, proved to be more popular with the public than the novel.

<i>Puppet on a Chain</i> 1969 novel by Alistair MacLean

Puppet on a Chain is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. Originally published in 1969 with a cover by Norman Weaver, it is set in the late 1960s narcotics underworld of Amsterdam and other locations in the Netherlands.

<i>River of Death</i> 1981 novel by Alistair MacLean

River of Death is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1981. As with most of MacLean's novels, it depicts adventure, treachery, and murder in an unforgiving environment, set this time in the steamy jungles of South America.

<i>Seawitch</i> 1977 novel by Alistair MacLean

Seawitch is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1977 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.

<i>The Golden Gate</i> (MacLean novel) 1976 novel by Alistair MacLean

The Golden Gate is a novel written by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was first released in the United Kingdom by Collins in 1976 and later in the same year by Doubleday in the United States.

<i>The Way to Dusty Death</i> 1973 novel by Alistair MacLean

The Way to Dusty Death is a thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1973. The title is a quotation from the famous soliloquy in Act 5, Scene 5 in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.

<i>Caravan to Vaccarès</i> 1970 novel by Alistair MacLean

Caravan to Vaccarès is a novel by author Alistair MacLean, originally published in 1970. This novel is set in the Provence region of southern France. The novel was originally written as a screenplay for producer Elliot Kastner.

<i>The Last Frontier</i> (novel) 1959 novel by Alistair MacLean

The Last Frontier is a 1959 novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was released in the United States under the title The Secret Ways. This novel marks MacLean's first foray into the espionage thriller genre, and was inspired by the events surrounding the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

<i>Goodbye California</i> 1978 novel by Alistair MacLean

Goodbye California is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1977.

Navarone Island is a fictional island portrayed in a novel by Alistair MacLean entitled The Guns of Navarone. The novel was made into a movie, but the film changed some of the geography of the island. Although Navarone does not exist, its history is based on the real history of the Aegean Islands of Greece.

References

  1. BROTHELS, SPOOKS, WAR: New York Times6 Mar 1983: A.10.
  2. BEST SELLERS; FICTION: [List] New York Times 27 Mar 1983: A.40.