The Dog Who Could Fly

Starred review from April 14, 2014
In this heartwarming and well-paced man-and-his-dog story, Lewis (Sergeant Rex) takes readers on a roller-coaster ride with as many ups and downs as a bombing mission. During WWII, Czech airman Robert Bozdech and his canine companion Antis strove to contribute to the war effort, first from France, then Great Britain. Together, the two set out on wartime adventures full of severe injuries, harrowing narrow escapes, and death-defying bravery, testing the limits of the bond between man and beast. After the war, Bozdech and Antis retired to Czechoslovakia, but they were forced to flee as the Soviets targeted RAF airmen. They made their way back to the U.K., where Bozdech rejoined the RAF and eventually became a British citizen. This is a captivating read, from the moment we meet Antis as a forlorn, abandoned pup in a French farmhouse, and on through one deathly peril after another. Lewis has captured the spirit of the era and told the story using Bozdech’s manuscript as source material without making it maudlin or sentimental. This is a thoroughly enjoyable story of heroism and true friendship, and for lovers of WWII history and animals it is not to be missed.

June 1, 2014
In 1939, after surviving a crash in a French battlefield, Czech airman Robert Bozdech saved the life of his pilot and then, in spite of the dire circumstances, a small German Shepherd puppy the two men found in an abandoned farmhouse. In the years that followed as Bozdech, a man without a country, flew for the French and the RAF, his dog, Ant, was always by his side, a dearly loved mascot. Lewis was able to contact Bozdech's children and gain access to his personal wartime memoirs as well as letters home and other papers related to his military experiences. The result is a gripping war story and an utterly heartfelt narrative about a man and a dog, where the ending, thank goodness, is happy. On more than one occasion, Ant saved Bozdech, and he certainly returned the favor. Through enemy gunfire, circumventing official regulations and dangerous illness, they were loyal and true to each other and the war effort. A stirring drama of WWII that dog lovers will not be able to resist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)