Review: Polish Submarine Escapes Nazis at Beginning of WWII
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 8, 2014
“The Last Eagle” by Michael Wenberg is quite a good WWII submarine/Nazi story. It takes place right at the beginning of WWII, at the moment when the Nazis strike Poland. The Eagle, a state-of-the-art Polish submarine, by some amazing feats manages to escape the early bombing and subsequent search for it.One must suspend belief a bit too often, however, as the plot involves an American woman/reporter who, with her photographer colleague, end up on board the sub.  Right.  By virtue of some luck, some plot tricks and some good submarine driving, the sub actually escapes to England after doing some embarrassing damage to the Nazis and Russians.The characters are interesting, mostly believable, courageous and stalwart. The Germans, from top to bottom, are, as often is the case in a novel like this, rather bumbling and make the mistakes of the arrogant a bit too often. (They in truth were not all that stupid.)The story is a good escape, a suitable book for a holiday abroad, and another reminder that this genre is far from dead. Indeed, there have been a number of submarine novels of late which include a woman on board in one role or another. The story is well-written, provides a laugh or two and brings home one more time the sad beginning of WWII.I give it a 3.1. It’s not literature (far from it), but it is a rather engrossing, fun – if superficial -- read. One is reminded somewhat forcefully of the historical hate-hate relationship between Poles and Germans. Long live Poland.