Hullo Russia, Goodbye England

Flight Lieutenant Silk, a twice-decorated Lancaster pilot in WW II, rejoins the R.A.F. and qualifies to fly the Vulcan bomber. Piloting a Vulcan is an unforgettable experience: no other aircraft comes close to matching its all-round performance. And as bombers go, it's drop-dead gorgeous.

But there's a catch. The Vulcan has only one role: to make a second strike. To act in retaliation for a Russian nuclear attack. Silk knows that knows that if he ever flies his Vulcan in anger, he'll be flying from a smoking wasteland, a Britain obliterated. But in the mad world of Mutually Assured Destruction, the Vulcan is the last - the only - deterrent.

Derek Robinson returns with another rip-roaring, gung-ho R.A.F. adventure, one that exposes and confronts the brinkmanship and sabre-rattling of the Cold War Era.

“'His prose and his dialogue...are unimprovably taut and crackling with wit... Robinson knows what he's doing, trust me' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian.-- Guardian”

'His prose and his dialogue...are unimprovably taut and crackling with wit... Robinson knows what he's doing, trust me' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian. Guardian
'A dark but hugely enjoyable novel about the nuclear age ... Echoing the style of Joseph Heller's Catch 22, this is a real page-turner' Matthew Nixson, News of the World. News of the World

Derek Robinson, the son of a policeman, read history at Cambridge before working in advertising in London and New York. His novel Goshawk Squadron was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1971.

1962. After a stint running guns for the C.I.A., Flight Lieutenant Silk, a twice-decorated Lancaster pilot, rejoins the R.A.F. to fly the Vulcan, a nuclear bomber. This is probably the best aircraft in the world. It can stand on its tail and climb as if somebody up there is hauling it in, and then perform like a fighter, only better. It makes sex look like gardening. But there's a catch. The Vulcan exists to retaliate against a Russian nuclear strike. Silk knows that if his squadron gets scrambled for real, there will be no England to return to. In the mad world of Mutual Assured Destruction, the Vulcan is the last - indeed the only - deterrent. Yet even disaster can generate humour, something never lacking in the R.A.F. (Aircrew call their nuclear weapons 'buckets of sunshine'.) As one reviewer said, 'Robinson writes of the random, chaotic comedy of war better than anyone since Evelyn Waugh.' He is by far the most comic of war novelists, while remaining shockingly realistic.

Flight Lieutenant Silk, a twice-decorated Lancaster pilot in WW II, rejoins the R.A.F. and qualifies to fly the Vulcan bomber. Piloting a Vulcan is an unforgettable experience: no other aircraft comes close to matching its all-round performance. And as bombers go, it's drop-dead gorgeous. But there's a catch. The Vulcan has only one role: to make a second strike. To act in retaliation for a Russian nuclear attack. Silk knows that knows that if he ever flies his Vulcan in anger, he'll be flying from a smoking wasteland, a Britain obliterated. But in the mad world of Mutually Assured Destruction, the Vulcan is the last - the only - deterrent. Derek Robinson returns with another rip-roaring, gung-ho R.A.F. adventure, one that exposes and confronts the brinkmanship and sabre-rattling of the Cold War Era.

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