Goodbye, Mickey Mouse is a historical novel by Len Deighton 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 named Steeple Thaxted. ( )

3.5 Stars. Not enjoy it as much as when I read it 30 years ago. ( )

An attempt by Deighton to cover the other major Air force arm, the fighters, does not come off so well as "Bomber". It seems a bit formulaic, and the characters do not spring off the page with verve. The plot is pretty much that of Bomber, but there is no story on the German side , and the novel takes place not in the glory days of the Battle of Britain, but later, when the Allied Air superiority had become apparent. ( )

In general, I hold Len Deighton in very, very high regard. This book has been a part of that evaluation. I read it as part of a group including also Bomber and City of Gold. All three of these seem to me to be expositions of What It Was Like at times and places that have now nearly disappeared as personal experience of living people. When the living have passed, nothing is left but words on pages, and Len Deighton has given me those in a way that make me think I can glimpse those experiences.

In Bomber, LD shows both British and German experiences the air war at a middle point in World War II - when the outcome was by no means certain. In this book, he shows the American experience of the air war. It was different than the British, and the book was needed.

Len Deighton shows each group sympathetically. His presentation of the American experience is believable to an me as American reader, which reassures me about the accuracy of the presentations of the British and German experiences.

The three books are like finding a steamer trunk in the attic. On opening it, you find uniforms of an old pattern with slightly dulled insignia and medals, with the scent of old wool. You can touch them, and the reality of the person who wore them suddenly becomes much more believable. They lived, and now they are gone.

Competent, as Deighton always is, but a little disappointing. The story of a group of USAAF fighter pilots escorting bombers on daylight raids on Germany is fairly light on the technical detail that Deighton handles so well, concentrating more on the personal relationships - family and romantic - of the characters. The rather serious difficulty (from a British point of view) of the sexual needs of the US forces - 'Over-sexed, over-paid and over here!' - is worked through with an over-dramatic conclusion, necessary for the plot but a little cliched. The actual combat scenes were, as far as I can tell, accurate but seemed rather peripheral to the romance, and rather lacked excitement.

If you are going to read the book, don't read BogartFan's Spoiler! ( )