A. M. Weller, "News of the Screen: Churchill Inspires A Thriller", The New York Times, 6 October 1974: 63. Initially, Radl also thinks this is a waste of time, but soon comes across some valuable intelligence. German spy Joanna Grey, code name Starling, reports that Churchill is planning to spend a weekend at a country house near the village of Studley Constable, where she is based. Joanna is an Afrikaner woman with a hatred of the British after British soldiers assaulted her, and her family was killed in the Anglo-Boer war. Now the author implies that this was a real mission and post events it was "hushed up" and he leaves it to the reader to pass judgement on its veracity. Well, allow me to tell you it is all fiction. But there is a grain of historical basis, mostly unknown outside of people who have studied WWII. The book makes use of the false document technique, and opens with Higgins describing his discovery of the concealed grave of thirteen German paratroopers in an English graveyard. The characters discuss the historic rescue of Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini in September 1943.

a b c d e f "The Eagle Has Landed film locations". Movie Locations. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. He goes to such lengths to claim authenticity because people are more likely to accept a fantastical story if they think it’s true. This is a common trait in spy thrillers – an aura of authenticity helps maintain the suspension of disbelief. Brig. Dougal Munro – Head of Section D of the SOE, who was assigned to hush up events at Studley Constable. An entertaining read and exciting. Steiner, the paratroop commander, is a great character and deviates from the oft-caricatured "Seig Heil" uttering Nazis one often sees in fiction. Perhaps my only issue is the "love" story between Liam Devlin and the local yokel-Molly. I felt that to be a bit too cheesy, but the rest of the story is quite entertaining. Well worth your time if you are looking for a good WWII based thriller. Caine himself has said the movie disappointed him. He claimed John Sturges was not really interested in making the movie and failed to edit it effectively . In fact, The Eagle Has Landed was Sturges’ last film.Involves one or more Allies in their Mission (Optionally, there is a romance sub-plot with one of the Allies).

Michael Caine as Steiner is perfect casting as is Donald Pleasance as Himmler. The others are great too, but those two jumped out at me. I'm a real fan of Donald Sutherland, too. He would be a perfect Liam Devlin. I don't think I've seen the movie since it came out, though. He was the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy thrillers, including The Eagle Has Landed and The Wolf at the Door. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

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Michael Ryan – an Irish Republican and long-time friend of Devlin, who lives close to where Munro is holding Steiner.