Night Over Water

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The first air passenger service between the U.S.A. and Europe was started by Pan American in the summer of 1939. It lasted only a few weeks; the service was curtailed when Hitler invaded Poland.

This novel is the story of an imaginary last flight, taking place a few days after war was declared. The flight, the passengers and the crew are all fictional. However, the plane itself is real.

In September 1939 a British pound was worth $4.20.

A shilling was one twentieth of a pound, or 21 cents.

A penny was one twelfth of a shilling, or about two cents.

A guinea was a pound and a shilling, or $4-41

PASSENGER DECK PLAN PAN AMERICAN AIRWAYS SUPER-CLIPPERS

PLANE: BOEING 314 PASSENGERS: 74 DAY, 40 NIGHT. WING SPAN: 152 FEET HULL: 106 FT. POWER: FOUR 1500 H.P. WRIGHT CYCLONE ENGINES

It was the most romantic plane ever made.

Standing on the dock at Southampton, at half past twelve on the day war was declared, Tom Luther peered into the sky, waiting for the plane with a heart full of eagerness and dread. Under his breath he hummed a few bars of Beethoven over, and over again: the first movement of the Emperor Concerto, a stirring tune, appropriately warlike.

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