Touch the Sky

by Harold Livingston

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688077196
• ISBN13: 9780688077198
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Captures the essence of the aviation revolution

I don't love this novel because it's perfectly crafted. I love it for its sweeping scope and the way it captures the essence of the aviation revolution. The author has among his credits five other novels and the screenplay of "Star Wars, the motion picture", but for me "Touch the Sky" is his masterpiece. It begins as modern aviation did; above the trenches and fronts of World War I. Two men, one American, the other a German ace seeking revenge, meet in an aerial dogfight that ends with Simon Conway pulling unconscious Karl Eisler from the burning wreckage of his aircraft. This sets up a lifelong relationship between the men, first in a German POW camp - where Simon's amoral approach to life confounds Eisler's Prussian militarism. Both men burn with the desire for success in aviation, and after the war, Simon Conway succeeds in building a successful business. The time comes when only one man can design the aircraft that will keep Si afloat in his competitive world - Karl Eisler - and as Hitler gains ascendancy in Europe he convinces Karl to come to work for him. Together, they build wonderful airplanes but Si's need to always win no matter the cost eventually drives his long time friend into the arms of Hitler and the third reich. The story line follows them and developments in aviation faithfully, paralleling Conway Air's fictional progress with actual American and German manufacturers. The story line goes deeper too, into the personal lives of both men and there much of the interest is to be found. Livingston takes liberties many authors would not be allowed. He sprays POV around like it's coming from a lawn sprinkler. He has some bad prose habits too, but these will only be visible to other writers, not the general reader. I've kept this book and read it several times not because of its mechanics but because it carried me into the world of early aviation and let me fly with those wonderful pioneers. Highly recommended. Art Tirrell, author of The Secret Ever Keeps, coming April 2007 from Kunati Books.