'High Endeavour' by Edward Seago is the engagingly told and beautifully illustrated story of Jimmy, a circus man, who at the outbreak of war was determined to join the RAF and learn to fly. That he succeeded in this monumental task was greatly against the odds, as he had to learn from scratch mathematics, as he had no formal schooling at all. Seago was an artist of great talent, as the paintings in this book attest. Whether he really knew a 'Jimmy' or not, as well as the story line makes out, it is not possible to be sure. It is an intriguing question. And if he did exist, did he survive the war?
The passages about learning to fly, and then what it was like for Jimmy to become one with his aircraft, as he had with circus animals, are exceptionally well written.
Seago's choice of a few lines of Wordsworth as a title page quote is just right -
Whose high endeavours are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright;
Who, with a natural instinct to discern
What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;
Last edited by Fantome; 16th Mar 2015 at 16:48.