The Gaelic Books Council (Comhairle nan Leabhraichean) is the lead organisation with responsibility for supporting Scottish Gaelic authors and publishers, and for raising the profile and reach of Scottish Gaelic books in Scotland and internationally. The novel exploits contemporary fascination with the under-the-ice exploits of such American nuclear-powered submarines as Nautilus (first to pass under the North Pole), Skate, Sargo and Seadragon. During the Cold War, a US nuclear submarine is dispatched on a rescue mission to an Arctic weather station. Ice Station Zebra was nominated in two categories at the 41st Academy Awards, for Best Special Visual Effects (nominees: Hal Millar and Joseph McMillan Johnson, won by 2001: A Space Odyssey) and Best Cinematography (nominee: Daniel L. The overall atmosphere is not that different from John Carpenter's "The Thing" just with humans antagonists instead of extraterrestrial shapeshifters.

War Is Hell, but It Pays Off for MacLean: War Pays Off for MacLean War Pays Off for MacLean War is Hell, but It Pays Off for Alistair". Things get even trickier when Carpenter shares Ice Station Zebra’s real purpose and the fact that he suspects foul play. The film had been ejected from the satellite so that Soviet agents operating under cover at Zebra could retrieve it; Carpenter's brother had been sent to the station to prevent this. yawn* I get it - this was the style of the period, but I would rather read about the derring-do happening instead of a cold, remote analysis of the problem.Just before they embark, the narrator, Dr Carpenter, requests permission to board the rescue mission. From Anne Frank, we learn of the oppressive daily life led by those in hiding, and the edge they have to live on. Apart from the strongly drawn characters and tight plot, the other highlight is the mystery element at the end that doesn't feel tacked on as, from the outset, the narrator declares himself unreliable which gives the whole story an element of mystery. In January 1967 MGM announced the film would be one of 13 movies it would make during the next year.

This book was an uneven read for me - slow moving in parts, with a lot of Dialogue as an Explanation and a large caste of characters who often had similar speaking styles. It turns out the movie was a pretty loose adaptation of the book - they even changed the names of the characters and the rescue vessel, which seems weird.Second, as a thriller novelist myself I have been looking up to the old masters for inspiration, having read a few Poirot books recently. To me, this is the beauty of a successful plotline, when the author can leave a clue in plain sight and have readers overlook it.

Anders confronts Vaslov and the two men fight before the dazed Jones shoots and kills the American captain. Many of his titles have been adapted for film - The Guns of the Navarone, The Satan Bug, Force Ten from Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and Bear Island are among the most famous. There are beautiful abstract patterns made by the sub as it cuts its way through the North Sea, all the gleaming, meticulous, finely wrought, intricate machinery inside the sub, and huge chunks of mountainous ice hanging down from the roof of the ice cap like molars. The crew succeeds in saving the ship, after several hours of hard labour, and thanks to Swanson's ingenuity. Following a terrible accident at the station which rests on the ice just 300 miles form the North Pole, a rescue operation is launched.A classic adventure tale, although the narrator kept a lot of screts from everyone including the reader. illustration; Hardback: dark green patterned cloth decorated in gilt on spine; Near fine in remains of a dustwrapper lacking much of the rear panel.