Whirlwind (novel)
1987 paperback edition
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| Author | James Clavell |
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| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Asian Saga |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
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Publication date
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1986 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 1,147 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 16052427 |
| Preceded by | Noble House |
| Followed by | last book of series |
Whirlwind is a novel by James Clavell, first published in 1986. It forms part of The Asian Saga and is chronologically the last book in the series.
Set in Iran in early 1979, it follows the fortunes of a group of Struans helicopter pilots, Iranian officials and oil men and their families in the turmoil surrounding the fall of the Iranian monarchy and the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Like many of Clavell's novels, it is very long and is composed of many interweaving plot strands involving a large cast of characters, as well as a detailed portrayal of Iranian culture.
The novel is closely inspired by the true struggle of Bristow Helicopters to escape the revolutionary forces and get their employees and equipment out of the unstable, deteriorating situation in the region. Alan Bristow, chairman of Bristow Helicopter commissioned a journalist, Jackie Griffin, who was married to one of his employees to write a report on the events in Iran. Bristow then gave his friend, James Clavell the resulting script to form the basis of the novel. Much of the story mirrors these and other contemporary events. In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph "Spike" Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst in on his kidnappers, the actual event both mentioned and fictionalized into the plot of Whirlwind. Other companies operating in Iran faced similar dilemmas. For example, Ross Perot's Electronic Data Systems similarly became very involved in the rescue of two executives from prison in Tehran, events dramatised in Ken Follett's novel On Wings of Eagles.
When tai-pan Ian Dunross learned in Noble House that the North Sea may soon be wide open for oil exploration, he sent Andrew Gavallan to Scotland to quietly buy up real estate in Aberdeen so they would be positioned to take advantage of this trend. The North Sea oil rigs, once built, are serviced by helicopter, which leads to Gavallan being involved in the helicopter and oil services industries. These become main business ventures of Struan's in Iran during the 1970s, as depicted in Whirlwind.
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