Aces High

They were 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. There is something of a myth surrounding the war in the air from 1914 -1918. The myth suggests that while any semblance of chivalry or idealism might have died in the filth and gore of the trenches, in the air above, noble heroes battled in one-on-one dog fights like the knights of old. In Aces High, Clark shoots this myth down in flames. This book serves to remind the readers that while Clark may not have been an entirely scrupulous politician, he was an exemplary military historian. Aces High is his vivid chronicle of aerial warfare during five turbulent years.