Cassell, 2001, $9.95, ISBN 0-304-35643-3, 224 pages trade paperback

This reprint of a 1971 novel shows flashes of the genius that would appear 10 years later in War Story. Again, the slightly daft Squadron Commander, the loose Collection of numb war-weary pilots, and the lunacy of high command collide in a poignant novel of WWI flying circa 1918.

Occasionally amusing and frequently ringing with the tone of hopelessness, Goshawk Squadron follows Major Stanley Wooley as he attempts to turn a gaggle of new pilots into flying death. He drills them in flying, firing, and tactics, and above all, relentlessly drums into them the cold fact that war meant killing not a contest between gentlemen.

Robinson pursues this utter indifference to life and death with a passion for detail and a penchant for harrowing description: Callaghan's "bath," Findlayson's last air to air duel, and Lambert's balloon-busting raids come to mind. Although not as humorous as War Story, Goshawk Squadron reads just as well, though a bit grittier and darker in its anti-war message.

Goshawk Squadron is another excellent novel by Robinson. If you enjoy WWI air warfare, this novel will nicely complement War Story.

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