The core story is that Lieutenant Charles Thiesiger Smith, an aviator pioneer, on leave in England, reads in the papers, that his father and brother have been shipwrecked on the Solomon Islands and are in danger of being attacked by Cannibals. With his trusty French mechanic, Rodier, the two of them set off in his plane to save his father and brother, continue around the world and get back before Charles’s shore leave finishes in 7 days. Of course, they succeed with many adventures on the way.
The first impression was, that it was an Imperial Adventure book of its day (1910). The second, that the only real people of note were proper upper class people like Charles T. Smith. Everyone else was beneath them and in fact, today the book would offend British farmers, workers, the French, the Germans, the Americans, Indians, Turks, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese and any other racial group encountered, because of how they were portrayed. The third impression was that of an Englishman’s natural right to expect priority treatment wherever they were in the world.
For example, in several paces where they landed to refuel, Smith would always set out, often meet the local Brit or dignitary, have a wash, good meal, manfully bear the curiosity of the ladies, before rushing back to the plane, where his trusty French mechanic Rodier had cleaned the engine and was hopefully eating some of the food sent to him as an afterthought. Mind you, Rodier did get a medal from the French Government before Smith got his knighthood, so some redress there!
It is a book of its time, where even today's bigots and closet racists would feel uncomfortable about some of the caricatures (full hardcore racists wouldn’t be able to see the problem).
One thing was true, His father and brother could have been at risk from head-hunters at the time in the Solomon Islands (https://australianmuseum.net.au/headhunters-from-roviana-solomon-islands-part-1).
Having recently edited and published Ann Petre’s book “The Family That Flew” http://miltoncontact.co.uk/Family-that-flew, the adventure did capture the heady days of aviation pioneers. But behind the fictional adventure story there was a real-life trail of fatal accidents. Flying was still a very hazardous affair with more than 30 pilot fatalities in 1910 alone. Ann’s uncles, Edward Petre and John Joseph (Jack) Petre died in accidents in 1913 and 1917 respectively (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatalities_from_aviation_accidents?).
Round the world in 7 days was a flight of fantasy.
The first real circumnavigation of the globe did not actually take place till April 6, 1924, when eight U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics in four airplanes left Seattle, Washington. They took 175 days, making 74 stops and covering about 27,550 miles http://pioneersofflight.si.edu/content/first-flight-around-world. The first flight in just over 7 days was by Wiley Post in 1933, setting a record of 7 days, 18 hours, 49 minutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Post.
Todays news is full of the reaction to the UK Times and German BILD Magazine interviews of President Elect Donald Trump. Britain concentrated on favourable views of possible trade deal after Brexit. The Spiegel was more cynical in interpreting Trump's pronouncements as aiming to divide and conquer:
- To separate UK further from EU.
- Tu turn other EU countries away from Germany.
- To set Nato members against each other.
- To diminish Chancellor Merkel in the eyes of the Germans.
- And to encourage the far right in Germany against the rest of the German population.
There are no allies, there is only the competition (and Great Deals).
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