Biggles

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RDMorrell
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Biggles

Post by RDMorrell »

The Biggles books of Captain W.E. Johns is another one of my favourite series. However, by contrast to Enid Blyton, Richmal Crompton and many of my other favourite children's authors, I didn't really discover Biggles and other W.E. Johns writings until I was well into my adulthood. My childhood collection featured plenty of Blyton series, William books, Arthur Ransome books, Willard Price books, A.A. Milne, Wind in the Willows and what-have-you. But I only ever had one Biggles book, which was Biggles of the Royal Flying Corps, published by Purnell. I still have it, and it's in pretty good nick too. I remember reading and enjoying it as a child, but for some reason, I never got any other Biggles books. Maybe I was too much into the Famous Five, Hardy Boys and other things. I think it also bothered me a little that the Biggles books had no clear order to them (although Internet sites have now cleared that up - there is an order to them, but as with the Hardy Boys, different publishers number them differently or don't bother at all). But another factor may be that I have never really been into "shoot 'em up" and war stories, although I get the impression now that W.E. Johns was actually somewhat anti-war (this comes through noticeably in The Rescue Flight, where one of the main protagonists ponders on the futility of war).

A couple of years ago however, I discovered two Biggles books in a local bookshop. They were new-style Red Fox paperback editions, entitled Biggles and the Black Peril and Biggles and the Rescue Flight. They had rather cool covers. I decided to buy them, and found that I greatly enjoyed them both. I then started researching Biggles on the Internet, and joined the Biggles Yahoo group. I also came across other Red Fox paperbacks with "retro" covers (there are 16 of them in all, I think) and bought them as I found them. Then I turned to Trade Me and eBay and started buying up a storm. It was a pretty expensive exercise, and this year, I have scaled my Biggles purchasing back considerably to let my bank balance recover somewhat! But I have a fairly complete set of the titles, with a reasonable number of hardbacks with dustjackets and some paperbacks, including some rather nice House of Stratus editions. Plus I have a Biggles comic, which I bought on Trade Me.

This year, I think I have only bought one Biggles book, but it is quite possibly the jewel in my Biggles crown. It is the much sought-after Biggles Does Some Homework, and I managed to get it without having to pay the earth plus a few other planets for it. It has just been reissued in hardback, and I was able to buy it from a Biggles collector in Christchurch for about the retail price plus postage. (I'm on this guy's mailing list.) It set me back NZ$102, or a shade under £40. But that's a drop in the bucket when you look at the kind of crazy prices the hardback edition is already fetching on eBay! Needless to say, I am extremely happy with this purchase (No. 216 of 300, if anyone's interested).

But although I managed to score that particularly elusive Biggles prize, some of the other rare Biggles titles, like Biggles Looks Back and Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea, remain absent from my collection, and probably will for some time yet, unless they are reprinted. For the ultra-rare titles, reprinting is probably my only hope. However, one other quite rare Biggles title that I have managed to get is Biggles Goes Alone, which I acquired for a shade over NZ$200 (roughly £ 80) from the local Mary Potter Hospice Shop. It's a little bit grubby, but has an intact dustjacket. I don't think I've spent much more than that on any one Biggles book (although I've certainly forked over more than NZ$100 for several!). No matter how much I want a book though, I'm not going to touch it if its price is in four figures (which is often the case with Deep Blue Sea and other very rare titles).

Of course, W.E. Johns wrote several other series other than Biggles, although Biggles is certainly his biggest and most successful series. But I don't have any of the Worrals, Gimlet or other WEJ books. However, I do have a paperback edition of Short Sorties and Sky Fever, published by Norman Wright. And one time on Trade Me, I acquired an edition of Flying magazine, which W.E. Johns edited. It's dated June 4, 1938 and is Volume I, No. 10. This particular edition contains part of a Steeley story - Wings of Rebellion (although I think it may have had a different title when published in book form).

So that's a bit about me and Biggles. :mrgreen: Are there any other Biggles or W.E. Johns aficionados here? Do you prefer the war stories or Air Police? (Most people would say the war stories, and they certainly include some of the finest Biggles tales, although the Air Police stories have their moments.) And which is your favourite character? Biggles himself, Ginger, Algy or even Bertie? Many Biggles fans have marked preferences for one or the other. In the Biggles world, there seem to be "Ginger" people and "Algy" people and so forth. I myself don't have any strong preference, although perhaps I need to read a few more Biggles books. For me it's probably a toss-up between Biggles and Ginger at present. Last but not least, what's your favourite Biggles book of all time? Or do you actually prefer the likes of Worrals, Gimlet or Steeley over Biggles?

Lots of scope for discussion here, I'm sure! :D
Last edited by RDMorrell on 17 Jun 2013, 14:35, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Kitty »

I'm a big WEJ fan. I started on Gimlet, after I bought Oriental Quest in a charity shop for 10p, moved on to Worrals, and finished up with Biggles, after wrestling with a long-term dislike of boys action hero-type stuff! I was only a couple of pages into Biggles Flies North before I was utterly converted. I'm not so keen on the stories outside the big 3 of Biggles, Worrals and Gimlet, but some do stand out.

Most of my favourite stories are the ones either set in WW2, or predating WW2. However Biggles Buries a Hatchet, from much later on, must be one of my top Biggles books too! I find it very moving, don't want to spoil the plot for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but Biggles' remark to a certain someone about some items that need to be bought - "you wouldn't be the same without them" - never fails to bring a tear to my eye! Takes a Holiday and Hunts Big Game are other later highlights.

I like all Biggles' friends, but perhaps have a slender preference for Lord Bertie - such an unusual character. But my favourite character (apart from Biggles) is the soldier Erich von Stalhein - I truly don't know how Captain Johns got away with writing Erich in such a strange, multi-faceted way - always charismatic, eventually sympathetic - while never denying or minimising the evils of the past for which von Stalhein had some shared responsibility.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Katharine »

I know some fellow forumites are fans of W.E. Johns. I've just read my very first Biggles story. It was a short one called 'Night Flight' and was in the 1952 Daily Mail Annual. I thought it was quite good, and may have to dig out another story to read at some point. :D

I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone hadn't come across this story before.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Lucky Star »

It's quite a coincidence that you ressurect this six year old thread today Katharine as, just this morning, I bought a Biggles book Orchids for Biggles at a car boot sale. First time in ages that I've bought one. :lol:
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Re: Biggles

Post by ledzep93 »

I love a bit of Biggles and have started reading Biggles and Co, pretty good so far :D
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Re: Biggles

Post by Danger Bird »

What would be a good Biggles book to start with?
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Re: Biggles

Post by Lenoir »

There are the books about the First World War, like Biggles of the Camel Squadron which is a collection of war-time stories.
Then in the later books he is in the Air Police, and solving cases and often goes off to exotic places. These are full length novels.
I think you could just pick one from any era depending on what you prefer and try it.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Francis »

I would say it is best to start with books like 'Biggles flies east' which is set in the first world war and gives you a good background to his character.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Danger Bird »

I've picked up The Camels are Coming. I've nearly finished it now and have thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Francis »

Yes that is a very good book - John's new all about flying in combat in the First World War as he flew abomber with a gunner behind him and was eventually shot down and captured by the Germans.
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Re: Biggles

Post by ledzep93 »

I've that title in my collection, but have yet to read it. Hope its good like you say! :D
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Re: Biggles

Post by RDMorrell »

The Camels Are Coming is a good one to start with, seeing as that is actually the very first Biggles book. :D

Update on my collection: I now have all the titles, including several more Norman Wright editions, which I bought from that same Christchurch collector as they were released. These include Biggles Looks Back and Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea, in nice hardback editions with dustjackets. In addition, I have the first four Gimlet books, which are all in one big paperback volume that I bought a year or so ago. Have a handful of other W.E. Johns books (mainly one-off novels and short stories) in Norman Wright paperbacks, which I was lucky enough to acquire at very reasonable prices from the International Biggles Association Web site in the Netherlands. So pretty happy with all that lot.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Francis »

Don't forget the Worrals books - they are a cracking read.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Enikyoga »

With due respect, at one time, I used to be an ardent fan of The Biggles series. In fact, the first book I read by Captain W.E. Johns was Biggles In Tibet, followed by the likes of Biggles In The Orient, Biggles Defies The Swastika and incidentally or coincidentally I read one of his last books, Biggles Buries A Hatchet (wow, I can remember these titles after over four decades without having re-perused through them again). However, even then, I was put off by some of the racial insensitivity in the books, especially the way Biggles would describe the natives in some of the countries he went through. For comparative purposes, I wanted to re-read some of the Biggles books for my book, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage, however I was unable to procure any of them via the inter-library loan scheme. probably because they are even more unfamiliar in the USA than even the Blyton books. Should I have the opportunity to update my book, I may be able to purchase some of them via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Abebooks, Ebay as they may assist me in analyzing some of the cultural mores of the era in which Capt. W.E. Johns wrote them.
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Re: Biggles

Post by Tony Summerfield »

If you do get round to updating your 'magnus opus', Stephen, I do recommend this Biggles book as it is most revealing!
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