Aces High: The War in the Air over the Western Front 1914-18 - Softcover

Clark, Alan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1448200199 ISBN 13: 9781448200191

Publisher: Bloomsbury Reader, 2012

Synopsis

First published in 1973, this is an account of those forbidden to carry parachutes; they lived in dread of being shot down in flames; their life expectancy was measured in days...

But these were the flyers who became legends in their own life-times - Albert Ball, Manfred von Richthofen, Mick Mannock, Rene Fonck, Georges Guynemer.

Aces High is the vivid chronicle of aerial warfare over the Western Front during five turbulent years of World War One.

About this title

Review:

Aces High serves to remind us that, if not an entirely scrupulous politician, nor a perfect husband, Alan Clark really was a superb military historian. There has evolved something of a myth about the war in the air between 1914-1918. The myth goes that, while in the filth and gore of the trenches below, any idealism and chivalry quickly sputtered and died in the purer air above; the last noble heroes battled with each in one-to-one dogfights like knights of old. It is a myth that Clark shoots down in flames, with characteristic iconoclasm. One of the great RFC aces was Mick Mannock, famed for his encounter with a training instructor, out in a formation of six with five of his very green-horned pupils. Mannock first shot down the instructor and then ruthlessly pursued each of the novices and shot them down one by one. This wasn't chivalry, it was war, and although more elegant to watch, it was every bit as lethal as Passchendaele. The book is also superbly illustrated; there is a photograph of another ace, Albert Ball, who died at the age of 20. Here he is in black and white, looking like Rupert Brooke, only more handsome, clean- shaven, eager, boyish ... and quietly murderous. It is an image both troubling and unforgettable--much like the book. --Christopher Hart

Review:

'Aces High serves to remind us that . Alan Clark really was a superb military historian' (Christopher Hart)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Reader
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1448200199
• ISBN 13: 9781448200191
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 168