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Published by Faber & Faber, 2009, softcover, 350 pages, condition: very good.
'Each flick of the page suggests the tick of a countdown' New York Times Books Review
' Artfully well-orchestrated' Sunday Times
'Splendidly tense' Los Angeles Times
The D-day landings - the fate of millions of men and the entire future of Europe depends on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single morning. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it even possible to predict the weather so far ahead? Will Wallace Ryman, reclusive pacifist and renowned forecaster, divulge his secrets to the team? Can Henry Meadows, a young maths prodigy, save the day? Or will turbulence prove even more elusive than imagined and events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control?
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
I enjoyed this book immensely even though I have scant knowledge of physics, advanced mathematics or meteorology. All of these specialties play a central role in this mesmerizing novel set in England during the latter part of the Second World War. The protagonist, Henry Meadows, is a callow, nebbish and brilliant mathematician working as a meteorologist with an international team to determine the exact (safest) date for the D-Day incursion to Normandy. Prior to this assignment Meadows had been posted to work with an esteemed British meteorologist who might have the right mathematical key to an equation which would provide the certainty needed for that particularly important date. Unfortunately for Meadows, his new colleague had become a conscientious objector and wanted nothing to do with the war effort. How Meadows goes about finding the right formula leads to a nail-biting finale determining the fate of hundreds of thousands soldiers, sailors and airmen on June 6, 1944. During the course of the book, Meadows develops from an inept and shallow individual haunted by a nightmarish youth spent growing up in Africa to a quite self-composed and likable hero.
Definitely a very satisfying read--perhaps not for everyone--- but of course, that could be said about any book.
