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Roald Dahl
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Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying Paperback – January 2, 1990

by Roald Dahl (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 182 ratings
Stories depict the hardships, physical dangers, and emotional trials of World War II fighter pilots
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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    January 2, 1990
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    5.06 x 0.46 x 7.76 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0140035745
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0140035742
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six he moved to Washington, D.C., and it was there he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career.

After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl Web site: www.roalddahl.com

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 2, 1990
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140035745
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140035742
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.21 ounces
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.46 x 7.76 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 182 ratings

About the author

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Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl

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The son of Norwegian parents, Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916 and educated at Repton. He was a fighter pilot for the RAF during World War Two, and it was while writing about his experiences during this time that he started his career as an author.

His fabulously popular children's books are read by children all over the world. Some of his better-known works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.

He died in November 1990.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
182 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Anonymous
    5.0 out of 5 stars Duplicate story!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    Roald Dahl is a great author with a wonderfully wicked sense of humor and take on life. I have another collection of his short stories and was sad to discover this short little collection had one of the stories from my larger collection. The stories contained in this collection show a side of Dahl not always seen, a more serious side without the wicked twists that are always enjoyable in his stories. The collection is short, and left me wanting more written in this style that is somehow different, yet still has Dahl's voice.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • EpicFehlReader
    4.0 out of 5 stars War inspired stories from a beloved childrens' author
    Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2016
    During World War 2, beloved childrens' author Roald Dahl served as a fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force. Though severly injured in Libya, he went on to fly in additional missions over Greece and Syria, later transferring to a position in Intelligence. Inspired by his own true-life experiences, Dahl crafts a truly unique collection of sometimes eerie, sometimes touching short stories, each story illustrating an unusual experience of a different pilot. In his foreword, Dahl explains that none of the stories reflect anyone he knew in particular, but were inspired only by general things he witnessed during his years of service.

    All the stories in this collection were originally published individually in various magazine publications around the world but have since been made available as one collection in book form. Now, a quick run down of the ten stories:

    #1 "Death of an Old, Old Man" -- tale of a seasoned pilot on his final flight -- what originally had me wanting to read this whole book was just the very first line of this first story: "Oh God, how I am frightened!" Had to know the story behind that!

    #2 "The African Story" -- an old man has a unique method for confronting an animal abuser... okay, so actually this one doesn't have the focus on the pilot but it's still tense and good!

    #3 "Piece of Cake" -- an overconfident pilot has his plane catch on fire, pilot falls into emotional shock, time slows way down and he finds himself struggling to be able to move to free himself from the flames --- This one had a scene that I found a bit of dark humor in: When someone comes to the pilot's aide, the pilot feels pain in his nose and asks what's wrong with it, to which the newcomer replies, "It actually doesn't seem to be there very much." I probably shouldn't have found that bit funny but the polite tone used to notify someone that a prominent part of their face appears to have left the building just tickled me. Guess I'm just dark like that.

    #4 "Madame Rosette" -- two pilots on leave hit the town one night and come up with a scheme to visit a local brothel to try to free all the prostitutes.

    #5 "Katina" -- Greece, 1941. Two pilots patrolling a bombed area come across a girl, body and face cut and bloodied, standing on a pile of rubble. They decide to take her back to the base doctor to get checked out, end up bonding with her. -- This one I found to be one of the most poignant of the bunch. Katina's story wrenched my heart a bit! It also had one of the best (though saddest), most cinematic endings of any of the stories here, IMO.

    #6 "Yesterday Was Beautiful" -- a pilot is simply trying to find someone who can give him a boat ride, but in the process of trying to find someone comes across a family whose matriarch is completely emotionally & spiritually broken by the war

    #7 "They Shall Not Grow Old" -- a pilot by the name of Finn goes missing for a few days. When his plane sudden comes in for a landing days later and his fellow pilots ask what happened to him, he initially has no memory of where he's been. When the memories do come back, the story he has to tell is almost impossible for anyone to believe.

    #8 "Beware The Dog" -- Story opens with a pilot's plane going down. Pilot survives wreck, wakes up in a hospital. When he has some time to get his bearings about him, the pilot begins to suspect something fishy about the hospital and why he's really there. It was with this story I can say it was my first time ever reading the simile "like a dead cat on a sofa." So there's that.

    #9 "Only This" -- the only story in the bunch told from a female perspective -- a woman describes her nightmares she's suffering while waiting for the return of her pilot lover --- eerie ending!

    #10 "Someone Like You" -- this collection closes out with a story of two pilots, old acquaintances who have lost touch over the years, reconnecting & shooting the breeze in a local bar

    There's just something to Dahl's writing that even if I don't entirely know what's going on all the time, I don't care, I'm compelled to keep reading,,,, if for nothing else just because his writing is so inviting, even when his story ideas get weird af! And some of these here definitely fall under that weird label. A number of them -- such as "Piece of Cake", "They Shall Not Grow Old", and "Only This" had something that was very Twilight Zone about them lol. And since we're speaking of Dahl, you know that scene in the original movie adaptation of his book Charlie & The Charlie Factory where Gene Wilder is singing that CREEEPY song in the tunnel? Well, there was something to the way that Dahl wrote "Piece of Cake" that definitely brought that scene to mind!

    Not all the stories have that vibe though. Some really are just a blend of sometimes bittersweet, sometimes tragic reflections on people just trying to come out the other side of war okay, or as okay as one can expect. From the soldiers to the women to the war-scarred children, I could easily picture all of Dahl's creations here as real people. What brought down my rating a bit was the endings on many of the stories... many of those endings fell too flat for me, or were too abrupt, making the rest of the story feel like it fell into some abyss. Still, this being my first dip into Dahl's adult fiction, I'm very much interested to see where his other offerings take me.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Danton M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars World War II stories by a talented writer who was there
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    And really, my title says it all. There's no question that Dahl could write and write well. Add this ability to the fact that he was a fighter pilot during the war, and his stories all take on a ring of truth that impressed me very much.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and terrible !
    Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Fantastic stories ! They all give clear messages that we do not want war ! All the stories are beautiful and terrible at the same time if that is possible !
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  • jdh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Roald Dahl wrote many childrens books, but his stories for adults are priceless.
    One person found this helpful
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  • judith mitchell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Early Roald Dahl
    Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Typical Dahl - engaging writing; great to read stories I hadn't met before. Also interesting to read about WW II pilots written by one of their number.
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  • C. Newton
    4.0 out of 5 stars Different type of story for Dahl
    Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2008
    My son had to do a report on this author. As a history buff he thought this book was excellent. Different type of stories for Roald Dahl but he enjoyed them.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Robert de Mamiel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Roald Dahl never fails to please.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Cliente Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars grazie roal !
    Reviewed in Italy on July 25, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Ho amato questo autore da bambino e continuo anche da adulto. Uno stile unico e un po geniale. Una lettura che stra merita.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars good quality as well
    Reviewed in India on October 8, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    For world war 2 enthusiasts written by a fighter pilot .....a must for the home library ....good quality as well !!!
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  • The Acquirer
    5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book - my only complaint is that Dahl ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I loved this book - my only complaint is that Dahl didn't write more autobiographical stuff because he's led such a wonderful and interesting life. A great read.
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  • Anthony Crompton
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good Short Stories
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Don't expect that this book will cast much light on Roald Dahl's flying career in the Middle East as I hoped that it would. It is, however, a great collection of absorbing short stories which make excellent bedtime reading. Dahl's more factual account of the RAF in the ill-fated campaign in Greece does provide some enlightenment of Dahl's wartime experiences.
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  • Amazon Customer
    2.0 out of 5 stars Boring
    Reviewed in India on July 29, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The content is far from dogfights. Disappointed
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