The first chapter of this wonderful book contained more or less the basic spar for the rest of the stories to follow. A dramatic event that set the title for this book. The title is based on the Greece historian Herodotus who published about events of worlds history and in this case aviation history. The couriers brought their message to the people that needed the contents urgently. It sounds all a bit philosophical but reading this book it is not. The couriers, a bunch of experienced aviators, support Tom Rawlings in his desire to become a successful airline pilot.
We go back and forth in history in which the couriers played an important role from the period of the airmail into the present dynamic time of commercial aviation switching from the men flying in the open cockpits of old De Havilland mail planes to the life in the cockpit of a modern 737 jetliner. All the time following Tom in his struggle to become a good dedicated pilot whereby the Couriers show up at moments were a critical situation arises that may turn into a deadly event.
It is really difficult to describe in this review why reading this book sometimes brings you as reader cold chills. Is it because you recognise yourself in the moments it can go terribly wrong up in the air due to the weather, fuel shortage, a technical problem or wrong navigation,… or is it when Tom realises that the Couriers just saved his life?!
Fact is the book is written with thorough knowledge of flight basics and the aviation history, with the right amount of fiction, reality and tension and based on the experience bag of the author as an airline pilot. Especially recommended for the men and women that are looking for a career as an aviator or who are just interested in aviation. I enjoyed the mix of history and present aviation in this sometimes dramatic but recognizable e-book novel.
Leave a Reply