The stories are: Death of an Old Man, An African story, A Piece of Cake, Madame Rosette, Katina, Yesterday was Beautiful, They Shall not Grow, Beware of the Dog, Only This, and Someone Like You.
These ten stories by the greatest of story tellers were all written in the 40's, and out of the experiences that the man himself had. This is definitely NOT Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, but rather tales of the unexpected with WW2 aircraft and pilots. Roald was a pilot himself, and here the voice of painful experience comes through.
The stories also contain elements of truth and morality, from the experiences of pilots fighting in Greece (3 stories) to their exploits on the ground in Cairo to the feelings of a sweetheart waiting for her beloved in an RAF bomber to come home. In fact, all the stories are RAF based, and some deal with ideas of death, both the manner thereof and in perspectives on the after-life (very much in the vein of a separate heaven for fighter pilots as they travel through the vague mists of time tunnels, not really a Christian reference to meeting God or the morality of war). All very much of their time really, and not short of propaganda for boosting the morale of those at home (These stories appeared in American magazines in 1945 first of all).
Masterfully written of course, and more thought provoking than the usual Aerial warfare episodes of fireballs in the air and chalking up the kills.
A neglected work of Dahls I would say, yet in no way inferior.
rate: 64 kbps
Audio sample rate: 22 kHz
Channels: 2 (stereo)