''Goodbye, Mickey Mouse'' is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton ( ; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books and works on history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, D ...

published on 12 October 1982. Set in Britain in early 1944, it tells the story of the 220th Fighter Group of the US Eighth Air Force in the lead up to the Allied invasion of Europe. The Group is based at a fictional airfield in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

named Steeple Thaxted.

Synopsis

Each chapter is titled by the name of the main character it deals with. The central storyline revolves around a love affair between a new pilot, Captain James Farebrother, and an English girl, Victoria Cooper. Another major plot line follows Lieutenant Mickey Morse, nicknamed ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

'', who is racing to be the first American pilot to break

Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker (born Edward Rickenbacher, October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Critical reception

The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

review suggested that the novel successfully evoked wartime Britain, and featured Deighton's trademark technical and operational details of the

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

fighter which the Group flies. It described the aerial scenes as few and brief but powerfully capturing the terror and excitement of

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

escort missions over Germany. Simon Mcleish gave the book a mixed review. He stated that ''Goodbye Mickey Mouse'' is obviously "well researched," but the research "is presented less obtrusively". Mcleish also stating that "for the general reader, ''Goodbye Mickey Mouse''" is not Deighton's most appealing novel, "though it would repay the effort required to read it."

References

1982 British novels Novels set during World War II Novels by Len Deighton Novels set in Norfolk Fiction set in 1944 Aviation novels Hutchinson (publisher) books Alfred A. Knopf books {{1980s-WWII-novel-stub