Partisans is a novel by the Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1982. MacLean used portions of the plot from the 1978 film Force 10 from Navarone as the basis of the plot for this novel. MacLean reverted to the theme of the Second World War, with which he was successful and highly popular in his early career. However, as with many of his later novels, Partisans proved to be less than popular with his long-time fans.
During the Second World War, Pete Petersen, a Yugoslavian agent with an unlikely name, and his team of compatriots cross war-torn Yugoslavia to deliver a secret message and unmask a double agent.
It is not clear who Petersen is actually working for, as the plot meanders through the confusion of Yugoslavia's three-way civil war, with CommunistPartisans, the Serb royalist Chetniks and the CroatianfascistUstashe fighting as much against each other as against their Italian and German occupiers. Everyone's loyalties are uncertain. Obviously, the sardonic Petersen is not working for the Nazis, but what about those with him?
Reception
The New York Times said in the book Maclean "gives World War II the full [G.A.] Henty treatment: stilted writing about cardboard characters engaged in a desperate enterprise.".[1] The book became a best seller.[2]
References
^BROTHELS, SPOOKS, WAR: New York Times6 Mar 1983: A.10.
^BEST SELLERS; FICTION: [List]
New York Times 27 Mar 1983: A.40.
