Book Review: ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ (1975)

The Eagle Has Landed

Author: Jack Higgins

Publisher: Collins (UK); Bantam Books (U.S.)

Year of Publication: 1975

Genre: Historical Thriller / World War II Fiction

November 1943. Europe is ablaze. With the Eastern Front collapsing and Allied forces carving their way through Italy, Nazi Germany is desperate for a symbolic triumph. Hitler, ever obsessed with spectacle and propaganda, seeks an audacious stroke to shift the narrative: kidnapping Winston Churchill.

What begins as a volatile joke—an angry outburst from the Führer—is quietly transformed into a legitimate operation by Heinrich Himmler, with Abwehr Colonel Max Radl tasked with assessing its feasibility. To everyone’s surprise, the impossible starts to feel terrifyingly plausible.

Thus unfolds Jack Higgins’ masterful wartime thriller. Assigned to lead this covert mission is Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Steiner—half American, half German, and all contradiction. His team of elite paratroopers is dropped into sleepy East Anglia, near the fictional village of Studley Constable, where Abwehr sleeper agent Joanna Grey and fiery IRA operative Liam Devlin stand ready to assist. Their objective: infiltrate, abduct, and vanish with Britain’s wartime leader.

Despite being published five decades ago, The Eagle Has Landed continues to stand tall among the greats of the genre. Its sharp pacing, richly drawn characters, and clever interweaving of real and fictional elements give it a striking sense of authenticity.

Alex Diaz-Granados on The Eagle Has Landed

As the boots hit English soil in the early dawn of November 6, a terse radio transmission signals the beginning: “The Eagle has landed.” And with it, Higgins crafts one of the most gripping “what-if” scenarios in modern historical fiction.

Despite being published five decades ago, The Eagle Has Landed continues to stand tall among the greats of the genre. Its sharp pacing, richly drawn characters, and clever interweaving of real and fictional elements give it a striking sense of authenticity. Historical figures like Hitler and Himmler are rendered chillingly lifelike, while Higgins populates the rest of the narrative with characters of depth and nuance—flawed heroes, conflicted operatives, and villains whose motives extend beyond caricature.

Higgins’ decision to include a fictionalized version of himself as a framing narrator adds a sly twist. It reads like a long-suppressed exposé, giving the novel the feel of forbidden truth rather than mere invention.

The book’s legacy is equally impressive. It propelled Higgins to international fame, inspired a 1976 film adaptation directed by John Sturges, starring acting heavyweights like Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, and Donald Sutherland, and later spawned a sequel, The Eagle Has Flown. But the original remains the standout—a tense, tightly wound story of courage, deception, and war’s morally gray undercurrents.

If you’re drawn to history with a heartbeat, stories that imagine the roads not taken, and thrillers that blend intellect with intrigue, The Eagle Has Landed will leave a lasting impression.