''Partisans'' is a novel by the Scottish author

Alistair MacLean Alistair Stuart MacLean ( gd, Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a 20th-century Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably '' The ...

, first published in 1982. MacLean used portions of the plot from the 1978 film ''

Force 10 from Navarone ''Force 10 from Navarone'' is a World War II novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It serves as a sequel to MacLean's 1957 '' The Guns of Navarone'', but follows the events of the 1961 film adaptation of the same name. It features vari ...

'' as the basis of the plot for this novel. MacLean reverted to the theme of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, 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. The book includes elements of the film of ''

'' (1978).

Plot introduction

During the Second World War, Pete Petersen, a

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

n agent with an unlikely name, and his team of compatriots cross war-torn Yugoslavia to deliver a secret message and unmask a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organ ...

. 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 Communist Partisans, the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

royalist Chetniks and the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n fascist Ustashe fighting as much against each other as against their

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 .A.Henty treatment: stilted writing about cardboard characters engaged in a desperate enterprise.". The book became a best seller.BEST SELLERS; FICTION: istNew York Times 27 Mar 1983: A.40.

References

External links

Book review at AlistairMacLean.com
1982 British novels Novels by Alistair MacLean Novels set during World War II Novels set in Yugoslavia William Collins, Sons books {{1980s-thriller-novel-stub