[GlenBarrington]

A novel about events leading to the Berlin Airlift. Apparently, the world has sort of forgotten this event. I know I rarely think about it. The world could have taken a very different course not just once but several times in the course of about 4 years after WW2.

There is some danger in assuming that any novel is historically accurate, but considering Leon Uris' background and generation, and the generation of people he was writing for, I feel it is close enough at least in the 'big strokes'.

What I found surprising was just how resentful the Americans were at being forced to 'run things' after the war. They were unprepared and unwilling, and they and everyone else knew it. And as a result, they sort of drug their feet at doing what seems obvious now, and obvious to many back then. But at the time no one but the Russians seemed willing or able to offer any alternative, and no one but the Soviets seemed to like that idea anyway!

I was surprised to read that there was a sizable group of people in the US and Britain, who seemed willing to let the Soviet Union just HAVE Europe. The world came very close to being a much meaner place I think in the late 1940's.

I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying though. Important characters being killed off, other characters never meeting by chance. I like my happy endings too much I guess. And the ending just sort of tapered off.

Even though it was published in the early 1960's, as a novel it holds up quite well and is very readable. It doesn't 'feel' like an old novel.