This gripping novel of the brief lives of four young men of different nationalities is chilling -- and all-too-credible.
The characters of the quartet are an Englishman, Godfrey; a German, Rolf; an Italian, Marco; and a Greek, Yiannis. They begin a teenage acquaintanceship when they meet first at the 1936 Nuremberg Youth Rally in Nazi Germany. A few years later each meets his end in a tremendous Greek island wartime climax: because each is involved by sheer chance in the violent death of each of the others. By chance, certainly; yet somehow pre-destined!
The author and his Swedish-born wife, Kerstin, own a sailing boat and also a holiday home on the island of Leros. They have visited nearly all the major Greek islands and much of the Turkish coast, usually under sail.
The reader is reminded of the savagery of some of the battles in wartime Greece and its islands, vividly underlined by the description of such fierce confrontations portrayed in this book.
Powell skilfully uses his first-hand knowledge of the history and geography of the region to bring it convincingly to life. In so doing he provides the reader with an excellent history lesson without being school-masterly in educating us .
The dialogues of the youngsters, whether romantic when they fall in love with young women, or in communication with each other as they get to know each other better, is effective and convincing.
The pre-war period inevitably moves towards war itself as the characters are sucked into their roles in it. The war itself becomes complicated for them with the end of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and with Italy switching sides from the Axis Powers to line up with Britain and America. The Italian collapse affects Marco significantly as he tries to cope with the sudden re-alignment of power; just as the awareness of approaching defeat for Germany affects Rolf, by now a hardened Luftwaffe pilot.
Throughout the book the build-up towards the predictable deaths of all four of its main characters looms alarmingly clear and helps to maintain the sympathy of the reader for them as ultimately they perish.
Powell's book is rivetingly written with the malignant destiny of all four brooding throughout the work, providing both them, (one feels), as well as the reader, with a growing and uncomfortable appreciation of that malignant destiny's imminent approach.
Altogether, the book is a splendid read. I imagine It should be of particular interest to anyone holidaying in, on, or off-shore from the Greek islands who has an interest in learning more about them and about the troubled waters in which throughout the ages they have sometimes existed.

John Osman (Retired BBC Foreign Correspondent)

I was given your book as a Christmas present and I have just finished reading it. Let me first say that you have written a very nice book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I suppose, as with many of our generation I have read a lot about WW II but your book taught me quite a few things I did not know. I liked the way you made recent history and parts of the war as well as the Spanish civil war come to life through the stories of the four boys in England, Germany, Italy and on Leros. To maintain the pace and suspense of a story with those four interweaving threads over a period of almost 30 years is not easy but I think you succeeded. The chapters were well spaced – not too long and not too short. So, at least in my case, I never felt that I lost the thread of the story.
The passages I enjoyed the most were the Spanish civil war and your account of the war in North Africa. Your knowledge and command of airplanes and everything that got to do with flying impressed me. You came across as a very seasoned pilot that has flown a lot of older airplanes. Very impressive!
The part covering the campaign in North Africa was also very interesting to read and well written. Apart from being something I have not previously read about it was also written in a way that made me feel the desert sand in my mouth - quite suspenseful.
I also enjoyed reading about Queen Olga. I suppose she was authentic and that she was actually sunk in Lakki.
All in all you have done a very impressive research job and as a result the stories in your book feel very genuine. Finding those different war activities and relating them so that they fitted together for a dramatic finale in Lakki must have required a lot of research.


Lennart Königson

It's absolutely gripping, and so full of detail - your research definitely paid off.

I knew nothing of Leros or the battle, or indeed that the Italians had changed sides; what a mess it all was.

The characters and their contexts are totally convincing, and very human - even the 'baddies' draw sympathy. The pace you set at the start rarely lets up - poco rallentando only! - and the ending drives home like Rolf's doomed plane.

The little Epilogue makes a beautiful, and unsentimental (yes), rounding off. Congratulations!

Hazel Morgan

(Of the recent Italian translation - Five Stars)

Una pagina quasi dimenticata della nostra storia ancora troppo recente descritta con crudezza, onestà e anche un velo di poesia. Bellissimo!

Il libro non era facile da tradurre, ma il lavoro fatto è brillante!

(Translated:)
A page almost forgotten in our history is still too recent, which is described as rawness, honesty and also a veil of poetry. Beautiful!

The book was not easy to translate, but the work done is brilliant!
Patrizia Barrera

(Of the recent Italian translation - Five Stars)

Mi è molto piaciuto. La storia dei vari personaggi, e il loro intreccio, il modo in cui inspiegabilmente i loro destini si uniscano e tragicamente... Bello!

Ottima traduzione

(Translated:)
I loved it. The history of the various characters, and their intertwining, the way in which inexplicably their destinies tragically unite ... Beautiful!

Excellent translation
Rosario Petrillo