The Mongoose and the Eagle’s Claw

Description

The Mongoose and the Eagle’s Claw is an account of a solo journey made in 1980 by motorcycle from India to England, including a side-trip visit to the battlefields of Gallipoli.

The story reveals the strange incidents, doubts and fears that grew as the journey deteriorated sometimes into farce and sometimes danger. It tells how Michael was unwittingly caught up in the fallout from ‘Operation Eagle Claw’, the failed attempt to rescue the American embassy hostages held in Teheran, and how this gung-ho raid caused sleepless nights and frantic days as he raced across Iran on an Indian Enfield motorcycle, trying unsuccessfully to avoid police and demonstrating mobs. 

The Mongoose and the Eagle’s Claw is an inspiring and intriguing journey where readers will also discover ancient sites along the route travelled and historical figures that once also travelled that way in earlier times. 

Michael R Whittle was born in Preston, Lancashire and was brought up nearby in Leyland. He started travelling at a young age and worked in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh. He is a keen motorcyclist and, as well as the adventures in The Mongoose and the Eagle’s Claw he has also cycled through fourteen counties from Scotland to Singapore and made a trek around Annapurna in Nepal. He later worked for the Red Cross movement in Asia and worked for five years with the Australian Antarctic Division on their three Antarctic bases. He is now based back in Lancashire and enjoys hikes in the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.