(1931-    ) Swiss-born soldier, journalist and author long resident in France, whose sf novel, Trente Secondes sur New York (1969; trans June P Wilson and Walter B Michaels as Thirty Seconds Over New York 1970), depicts the Near Future nuclear bombing of New York by a Chinese plane that replaces a destroyed civilian airliner in midflight. The pilot is happy to sacrifice his own life in order to accomplish the mission; the 1977 paperback printing shows a civilian plane heading toward the World Trade Center. [JC]

Robert Buchard

born Lausanne, Switzerland: 24 December 1931

died

works

• Trente Secondes sur New York (Paris: Albin Michel, 1969) [pb/Serraillier]
  • Thirty Seconds Over New York (New York: William Morrow, 1970) [trans by June P Wilson and Walter B Michaels of the above: hb/]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Previous versions of this entry

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