Fiction & other works · novel

Whirlwind

by James Clavell

Whirlwind is a novel by James Clavell, first published in 1986. It forms part of the Asian Saga and is chronologically the last book in the series. Set in Iran in early 1979, it follows the fortunes of a group of Struan's helicopter pilots, Iranian officials and oil men and their families in the turmoil surrounding the fall of the Iranian monarchy and the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Like many of Clavell's novels, it is very long and is composed of many interweaving plot strands involving a large cast of characters, as well as a detailed portrayal of Iranian culture. The novel is closely inspired by the true struggle of Bristow Helicopters to escape the revolutionary forces and get their employees and equipment out of the unstable, deteriorating situation in the region. Alan Bristow, chairman of Bristow Helicopter, commissioned a journalist, Jackie Griffin, who was married to one of his employees, to write a report on the events in Iran. Bristow then gave his friend, James Clavell, the resulting script to form the basis of the novel. Much of the story mirrors these and other contemporary events. In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph "Spike" Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan...

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