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OT: What a fantastic Book

Posted By: dawnpatrol

OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 09:33 AM

I started to read Alex Revell's High in the empty Blue - The history of 56th Sqadron RFC/RAF 1916-1020.

What a fantastic book. It follows as stated the famous 56th of WW1 day by day with everything in between. I cannot recommend this book enough! Found a new copy on ebay uk.

So ofcourse i had to start a new career in April 1917 in same squadron, and immediately i found myself flying with Cecil Lewis and the rest, exactly as described in the book :-) BUT Albert Ball seems not to be in the Squadron in the game, which is odd.

Have you missed this collector item, go get it!
Posted By: Trooper117

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 10:30 AM

Cheapest in uk is about £72... that's a no go for me.
Posted By: JJJ65

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Trooper117
Cheapest in uk is about £72... that's a no go for me.

Neither for me nope .
Posted By: Robert_Wiggins

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 12:04 PM

Oh well, we can always take a loaner from the "Louvert Library"! I know there will be a copy there. It has them all!!! biggrin
Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 01:01 PM

.

Certainly not all, but I do have quite a few, Robert. Alex's book on 56 Squadron is a fantastic work and a must-have if you can afford it. After I found my own copy Alex sent me a personalized signature card for it - he's a swell fellow.

Now, since Robert did mention my WWI aviation library, which is open to the public by the way, (provided you can find your way to it), I will take this opportunity to list the current stacks. winkngrin


Personal Narratives, Biographies, and Novels:

"Above the French Lines: Letters of Stuart Walcott, American Aviator", Stuart Walcott, (1918 1st Edition)
"Ace of the Iron Cross", Ernst Udet, (1970 English translation, 1st Edition)
"Ace With One Eye: The Story of ‘Mick’ Mannock VC", Frederick Oughton, (1963 1st Edition)
"Adventure's A Wench: The Autobiography of Charles Veil as told to Howard Marsh", (1934 1st Edition)
"A Flying Fighter", E.M. Roberts, (1918 1st Edition)
"Airmen O' War", Boyd Cable, (1918 1st Edition)
"All Quiet on the Western Front", Erich Remarque, (1929 English Edition)
"An Airman Marches", Harold Balfour, (Vintage Aviation Library Edition)
"An Airman Remembers ", Hans Schröeder, English translation, (1936 1st Edition)
"An Airman's Outings", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1917 1st Edition)
"An Aviator's Field-Book", Oswald Boelcke, English translation, (1917 1st Edition)
"An Escaper’s Log", Duncan Grinnell-Milne, (1926 Edition, author’s personal copy with revision notes)
"An Explorer in the Air Service", Hiram Bingham, (1920 1st Edition)
"A Poet of the Air", Jack Morris Wright, (1918 1st Edition)
"A Rattle of Pebbles: The First World War Diaries of Two Canadian Airmen", Brereton Greenhous, (1987 1st Edition)
"Belgium: A Personal Narrative", Brand Whitlock, (1919 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"Beyond the Tumult", Barry Winchester, (1971 1st Edition)
"Black Fokker Leader", Peter Kilduff, (2007 1st Edition)
"Bomber Pilot 1916-1918", C.P.O. Bartlett, (1974 1st Edition)
"Captain Arthur Ray Brooks: America's Quiet Ace of W.W.1", Walter A. Musciano, (1963 1st Edition)
"Cavalry of the Clouds", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1918 1st Edition)
"Cloud Country", Jimmie Mattern, (1936 Pure Oil 1st Edition) 3-volume set
"Days on the Wing", Willy Coppens, English translation, (1931 1st Edition)
"Death in the Air", William Heinemann, (1933 Edition) (famous faked aerial photos)
"Double-Decker C.666", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1931 1st Edition)
"Eastern Nights and Flights: A Record of Oriental Adventure", Alan 'Contact' Bott, (1920 1st Edition)
"En L'air!", Bert Hall, (1918 1st Edition)
"Extracts From the Letters of George Clark Moseley", (1923 1st Edition)
"Fighter Pilot on the Western Front", Wing Commander E.D. Crundall D.F.C., A.F.C., (1975 1st Edition)
"Fighting the Flying Circus", Edward Rickenbacker, (1919 1st Edition)
"Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps", James McCudden, (1918 1st Edition)
"Flying Corps Headquarters 1914-1918", Maurice Baring, (1968 1st Edition with supplementary notes)
"Flying for France", James McConnell, (1917 1st Edition)
"Flying Minnows", Roger Vee, (1935 1st Edition)
"Flying Section 17", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1934 1st Edition)
"Flying With Chaucer", James Norman Hall, (1930 1st Edition)
"From Many Angles", Frederick Hugh Sykes, (1942 1st Edition)
"Go Get 'Em!", William Wellman, (1918 1st Edition)
"Granville: Tales and Tail Spins from a Flyer’s Diary", Granville ‘Granny’ Gutterson, (1919 1st Edition)
"Green Balls: The Adventures of a Night-Bomber", Paul Bewsher, (1919 1st Edition)
"Guynemer, Knight of the Air", Henry Bordeaux, English translation, (1918 1st Edition)
"Head Wind: The Story of Robert Loraine", Winifred Loraine, (1938 1st US Edition)
"Heaven High, Hell Deep", Norman Archibald, (1935 Signed 1st Edition)
"High Adventure", A.H. Cobby, (1981 Edition)
"High Adventure", James Norman Hall, (1918 1st Edition)
"Horses Don’t Fly: A Memoir of World War I", Frederick Libby, (2000 1st US Edition)
"I Flew for the Lafayette Escadrille", Edwin C. Parsons, (1962 1st Edition)
"Immelmann: The Eagle of Lille", Franz Immelmann, English translation, (1930 1st Edition)
"In the Clouds Above Bagdad", J.E. Tennant, (1920 1st Edition)
"Into The Blue", Norman MacMillan, (1929 1st Edition)
"Jagdstaffel 356", M.E. Kahnert, (1939 1st English Edition)
"Kitchener's Mob", James Norman Hall, (1916 1st Edition)
"Letters From a Flying Officer", Rothsay Stuart Wortley, (1928 1st Edition)
"Letters From a World War I Aviator", Josiah P. Rowe Jr., (1987 Edition)
"Letters of Cyrus Foss Chamberlain: A Member of the Lafayette Flying Corps", C. F. Chamberlain, (1918 1st Edition)
"Malaula! The Battle Cry of Jasta 17", Julius Buckler, (2007 1st Edition)
"Memories of World War 1", William Mitchell, (1960 Edition)
"Memoirs of Brigadier-General Gordon Shephard", Gordon Shephard, (1924 1st Edition)
"My Escape From Donington Hall", Gunther Plüschow, (1922 1st Edition)
"My Experiences in the World War", John J. Pershing, (1931 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"My Helpful Angel Flew With Me", William H. Cupples, (1975 1st Edition)
"My Island Home", James Norman Hall, (1952 1st Edition)
"Night Bombing with the Bedouins", Robert Reece, (Battery Press Edition)
"Night Raiders of the Air", A.R. Kingsford, (1939 Edition)
"Nocturne Militaire", Elliot White Springs, (1934 Edition)
"No Parachute", Arthur Gould Lee, (1970 1st US printing)
"Norman Prince, A Volunteer Who Died for the Cause He Loved", George Babbitt, (1917 1st Edition)
"Observer: Memoirs of the R.F.C., 1915-1918", A.J. Insall, (1970 1st Edition)
"One Airman's War: Aircraft Mechanic Joe Bull's Personal Diaries 1916-1919", Mark Lax, (1997 1st Edition)
"Open Cockpit: A Pilot of the Royal Flying Corps", Arthur Gould Lee, (1969 1st Edition)
"Over the Front in an Aeroplane", Ralph Pulitzer, (1915 1st Edition)
"Riders of the Sky", Leighton Brewer, (1934 1st Edition)
"Rovers of the Night Sky", W.J. 'Night-Hawk' Harvey, (1919 1st Edition)
"Sagittarius Rising", Cecil Lewis, (1936 1st US Edition)
"Sopwith Scout 7309", Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor, (1968 1st Edition)
"Stepchild Pilot", Joseph Doerflinger, (1959 1st Edition)
"That’s My Bloody Plane: The World War I experiences of Major Cecil Montgomery-Moore, as told to Peter Kilduff", (1975 1st Edition)
"The Balloon Buster: Frank Luke of Arizona", Norman S. Hall, (1928 1st Edition)
"The Diary of a P.B.O.* * poor bloody observer", Frank J. Shrive, (1981 1st Edition)
"The Escaping Club", A.J. Evans, (1936 Edition)
"The Flying Poilu", Marcel Nadaud, English translation (1918 1st Edition)
"The Red Battle Flyer", Manfred von Richthofen, English translation, (1918 1st Edition)
"The Red Knight of Germany", Floyd Gibbons, (1927 1st Edition)
"The Spider Web", T.D. Hallam (P.I.X.), (1979 Edition)
"The Way of the Eagle", Charles Biddle, (1919 1st Edition)
"Trenchard: Man of Vision", Andrew Boyle, (1962 1st Edition)
"Up And At 'Em", Harold Hartney, (1940 1st Edition)
"Victor Chapman’s Letters From France", John Jay Chapman, (1917 1st Edition, signed by his father)
"War Birds; Diary of an Unknown Aviator", Elliot White Springs, (1926 1st Edition)
"War Flying in Macedonia", Haupt Heydemarck, English translation, (1936 1st Edition)
"War Letters of Edmond Genet", Edmond Genet, (1918 1st Edition)
"Whom The Gods Love", Lewis C. Merrill, (1953 1st Edition)
"William Barker VC", Wayne Ralph, (2007 1st Edition)
"Wind in the Wires", Duncan Grinnell-Milne, (1918 1st Edition)
"Winged Peace", William Bishop, (1940 1st Edition)
"Winged Victory", V.M. Yeates, (1934 1st US Edition)
"Winged Warfare", William Bishop, (1918 1st Edition)
"Wings over the Somme 1916-1918", Wing Commander Gwilym H. Lewis D.F.C., (1976 1st Edition)
"With the Earth Beneath", A.R. Kingsford, (1936 1st Edition)
"With the Flying Squadron", Harold Rosher, (1916 1st Edition)


History, Reference, and General Interest Books:

"A History of the 17th Aero Squadron", Frederick M. Clapp, (1920 1st Edition)
"A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918", G.J. Meyer, (2006 Edition)
"Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War", Bruce Robertson, (1964 Edition)
"Aircraft of World War I, 1914-1918", Jack Herris & Bob Pearson, (2010 1st Edition)
"Aircraft of Today", Charles Turner, (1917 1st Edition)
"Aviation in Canada 1917-18", Alan Sullivan, (1919 1st Edition)
"Bristol F2B Fighter: King of Two-Seaters", Chaz Bowyer, (1985 1st Edition)
"Capronis, Farmans, and Sias: U.S. Army Aviation Training and Combat in Italy with Fiorello LaGuardia 1917-1918 ", Jack B. Hilliard, (2006 1st Edition)
"Colliers New Photographic History of the World War", (1917 Edition)
"Color Profiles of World War 1 Combat Planes", Giorgio Apostolo, (1974 1st Edition)
"Decisive Air Battles of the First World War", Arch Whitehouse, (1963 1st Edition)
"Dragon Master: The Kaiser's One-Man Air Force in Tsingtau, China, 1914", Robert E. Whittaker, (1994 1st Edition)
"Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1964 Edition)
"Flying The Old Planes", Frank Tallman, (1973 Edition)
"Fragments From France", Bruce Bairnsfather, (1917 1st Edition) (Great War cartoons by the master of the genre)
"French Aviation During The First World War", Vital Ferry, (2014 1st Edition, English Translation)
"French Military Aeronautical Branch Badges Up to 1918", Phillippe Bartlett, (2003 1st Edition)
"German Aircraft of the First World War", Peter Gray and Owen Thetford, (1962 1st Edition)
"German Air Power in World War 1", John H. Morrow, Jr., (1982 1st Edition)
"Handbook of German Military and Naval Aviation 1918", (1995 Imperial War Museum Reprint)
"Heroes of Aviation", Laurence La Tourette Driggs, (1919 1st Edition)
"High Flew the Falcons", Herbert Molloy Mason Jr., (1965 1st Edition)
"High in the Empty Blue", Alex Revell, (1995 1st Edition with author's signature card)
"Historic Airships", Rupert Holland, (1928 1st Edition)
"History and Rhymes of the Lost Battalion", L.C. McCollum, (1929 Edition)
"History of the World War", Francis March, (1918 1st Edition)
"History of the Great World War", Rolt-Wheeler and Drinker, (1919 1st Edition)
"Italian Aces of World War I and their Aircraft", Roberto Gentilli, Antonio Iozzi, Paolo Varriale, (2003 1st Edition)
"Land and Water" Magazine, (entire April through September 1917 series, hard bound, ex-library copy)
"Ludendorff's Own Story", Erich Ludendorff, (1919 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"Mapping the First World War: Battlefields of the Great Conflict From Above", Simon Forty, (2013 Edition)
"Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", Heinz J. Nowarra, (1960 Edition)
"Military Aeroplanes", Grover C. Loening, (1918 Edition)
"Naval Aviation in World War I", Naval Aviation News, (1969 1st Edition)
"National Geographic" Magazine, (entire 1918 series, hard bound, ex-library copy)
"New England Aviators 1914-1918: Their Portraits and Their Records", (1919-20 1st Edition) 2-volume set
"Paris in Ten Days - A Little Guide for Tommy and The Yank", Sommerville Story, (1918 1st Edition)
"Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War", W.M. Lamberton, (1962 Edition)
"Rhymes of a Red Cross Man", Robert W. Service, (1916 1st Edition)
"Schlachtflieger! Germany and the Origins of Air/Ground Support 1916-1918", Rick Duiven and Dan-San Abbott, (2006 1st Edition)
"Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front", Terrence J. Finnegan, (2006 1st Edition)
"Source Records of the Great War", (1923 1st Edition) 7-volume set
"Sous Les Cocardes", Marcel Jeanjean, (1919 1st Edition)
"The Air Defence of Britain 1914-1918", Christopher Cole and E.F. Cheeseman, (1984 1st Edition)
"The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War 1914-1918", F.M. Cutlack, (1923 1st Edition)
"The Aviation Pocket-Book 1917", R. Borlase Matthews, (1917 Edition)
"The Belgian Air Service in the First World War", Walter M. Pieters, (2010 1st Edition)
"The Fighting Triplanes", Evan Hadingham, (1969 1st Edition)
"The First War Planes", William Barrett, (1960 Edition) (the one that started it all for me)
"The Great Air War", Aaron Norman, (1968 Edition)
"The Great War", George H. Allen, (1919 1st Edition) 5-volume set
"The Great War in the Air", Edgar Middleton, (1920 1st Edition) 4-volume set
"The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War One", Alan Durkota, (1996 1st Edition)
"The Lafayette Flying Corps", James Hall and Charles Nordhoff, (1964 Kennikat Press limited edition two-volume set)
"The Literary Digest History of the World War", Francis Whiting Halsey, (1919 1st Edition) 10-volume set
"The People's War Book and Atlas", (1920 1st Edition, signed by Lt. Col. William A. Bishop)
"The Secrets of the German War Office", Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves, (1914 1st Edition)
"The Sky On Fire: The First Battle of Britain", Raymond H. Fredette, (1966 1st Edition)
"The Story of a North Sea Air Station", C.F. Snowden Gamble, (1967 Edition with supplementary notes)
"The United States in the Great War", Willis Abbot, (1919 1st Edition)
"The U.S. Air Service in World War I", Maurer Maurer, (1978 1st Edition) 4-volume set
"The War in the Air", Raleigh and Jones, (1st Edition) 9-volume set including map cases, (originally in the military library at Whitehall; my personal Jewel of the Crown)
"The War That Ended Peace", Margaret MacMillan, (2014 Edition)
"The Western Front from the Air", Nicholas C. Watkis, (1999 1st Edition)
"Time-Life Epic of Flight", 23-volume set, (not old and not strictly WWI but still a lot of good info and photos)
"True Stories of the Great War", (1918 1st Edition) 6-volume set
"Tumult In The Clouds: The British Experience of the War in the Air 1914-1918", Nigel Steel and Peter Hart, (1997 1st Edition)
"U.S. Official Pictures of the World War", Moore and Russell, (1924 1st Edition) 4-volume set
"Winged Mars, Volume I: The German Air Weapon 1870-1914", John R. Cuneo, (1942 1st Edition)
"Winged Mars, Volume II: The German Air Weapon 1914-1916", John R. Cuneo, (1947 1st Edition)
"1920 World Book Encyclopedia", (entire set with addendums, great for cross-referencing in a contemporary context)



Instructional Books:

"Aeroplane Construction and Operation", John Rathbun, (1918 1st Edition)
"English-French War Guide for Americans in France", Eugene Maloubier, (1918 Edition)
"Learning to Fly in the U.S. Army", E.N. Fales, (1917 1st Edition)
"Lewis Machine Gun 'Airplane Type' Service and Operation Manual", (1918 Edition)
"Manual of Rigging Notes Technical Data", (1918, possible reprint)
"Manual for Aero Companies", John M. Satterfield, (1916 1st Edition)
"Notes and Rules for Pilots of the Signal Corps Aviation Sections", (1918 1st Edition)
"Practical Flying", W.G. McMinnies, (1918 1st Edition)
"Technical Notes on the Breguet Aeroplane - 14 B2 Type", (1917 1st Edition)
"Technical Notes: Royal Flying Corps", (1916 1st Edition)
"The A-B-C of Aviation", Victor W. Pagé, (1918 1st Edition)
"The Art of Reconnaissance", David Henderson, (1916 1st Edition)
"The Eyes of the Army and Navy", Albert Munday, (1917 1st Edition)
"The Soldiers' English-German Conversation Book: For the Man at the Front", Henry Buller, (1918 1st Edition)
"Training Manual, Royal Flying Corps, Part I", (1914 1st Edition with 1915 Addendum)
"Training Manual, Royal Flying Corps, Part II", (1914 1st Edition)
"Science of Pre-Flight Aeronautics", (1942 Edition)
"Self-Help for the Citizen Soldier", Moss and Stewart, (1915 1st Edition)


I think that's all of 'em, I haven't updated the list for a while so I may be missing a few. So many books, so little time.

.
Posted By: dawnpatrol

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 01:11 PM

Most impressive to say the least, that list!

I immediately wonders, taking High in the empty blue as measurement (as i possibly would say is one of the best if not THE best book on the subject in my tiny list of books), which would you recommend as personal favourite(s)? Or as throughoutly indept as Alex revell? Since i got some 2 bookcases of similair books, i have learned that there are many many "not-so-good" books, and of them all there are quite a very few that is true gems. (pardon my bad english btw).

Errata on first topic: I did not get it through ebay, but AMAZON CO UK. Sorry about that error. Now, there are many there in used but new conditions from 30$ and up.
Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 01:36 PM

.

Thanks dawnpatrol, it's taken a good number of years to bring them all together.

To your question, and from just my personal reading, for really indepth study on a particular group, service, etc, (and these are just off the cuff):

"Italian Aces of World War I and their Aircraft", Roberto Gentilli, Antonio Iozzi, Paolo Varriale
"Schlachtflieger! Germany and the Origins of Air/Ground Support 1916-1918", Rick Duiven and Dan-San Abbott
"Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front", Terrence J. Finnegan
"The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War 1914-1918", F.M. Cutlack
"The Belgian Air Service in the First World War", Walter M. Pieters
"The Lafayette Flying Corps", James Hall and Charles Nordhoff
"The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War One", Alan Durkota
"The U.S. Air Service in World War I", Maurer Maurer

and any of Jim Miller's outstanding books on MvR


As for personal favorites, here are just a few, in alphabetical order:

"An Airman Remembers ", Hans Schröeder
"Double-Decker C.666", Haupt Heydemarck
"Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps", James McCudden
"Horses Don’t Fly: A Memoir of World War I", Frederick Libby
"No Parachute", Arthur Gould Lee
"Sagittarius Rising", Cecil Lewis
"The Way of the Eagle", Charles Biddle
"War Birds; Diary of an Unknown Aviator", Elliot White Springs
"Winged Victory", V.M. Yeates
"Wind in the Wires", Duncan Grinnell-Milne


Honestly, there are so many it's very hard to give a short list.

.
Posted By: DukeIronHand

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 02:50 PM

I looked for years for a copy before finally getting lucky getting a mint copy at an estate sale.
Consider myself quite lucky as it is an awesome book.
Wish we had more squadrons receive such loving literary treatment.
Posted By: epower

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 04:15 PM

A magnificent collection, Louvert. You've taken great care in gathering so many first editions.

We're of a similar mind as to favorites, although I've not read the German accounts or those of Libby and White-Springs.
They're on the list now! reading

Just finished "Storm of Steel" by Ernst Junger. Marvelous if harrowing stuff. Seems like Junger spent 4 years getting pummeled by British artillery.

I see you have "Fighting the Flying Circus." but have you read the full autobiography, "Rickenbacker" by the man himself?
I vividly remember pulling that tome off my Uncle's shelf when I was a youngster and getting lost in the tale.

Quite a life. Auto racer, American Ace of Aces, head of Eastern Airlines, lost at sea for a month in ww2. Even got to Russia during the war.
I do wonder if the WWI account in the autobiography is the same as the earlier ghost-written (?) "Fighting the Flying Circus."
I'm inclined to think there was some editing and perhaps some additions as he does mention that Jimmy Hall went on to write the Bounty Trilogy with Charles Nordhoff in 1934.
How I remember that fact some 40 years on I have no idea. If only I could recall what I had for breakfast today...




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Posted By: JFM

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 05:06 PM

Thanks, Lou! smile2

For those finding Alex's No.56 Squadron book High in the Empty Blue a bit pricey, he wrote a No. 56 Squadron book for Osprey. Of course, not as inclusive, and I know the editing drove him nuts to the point of frenzy, but still IMO good.

https://www.amazon.com/Sqn-RAF-Avia...s%29&qid=1585501086&sr=8-2-fkmr0

Books I recommend:

Somme Success, by Peter Hart
https://www.amazon.com/Somme-Succes...me+success&qid=1585501226&sr=8-1

Bloody April, by Peter Hart
https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-April...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Posted By: Shredward

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/29/20 07:02 PM

I've checked the datafiles, and Captain Ball joins the squadron at London Colney on February 26, flies with them to France on 7 April, and is lost on 7 May. Could you please check your installs, and see, or not see him, as reported by Dawn Patrol ?
Cheers,
shredward
Posted By: MFair

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/30/20 01:35 AM

Originally Posted by epower
A magnificent collection, Louvert. You've taken great care in gathering so many first editions.

We're of a similar mind as to favorites, although I've not read the German accounts or those of Libby and White-Springs.
They're on the list now! reading

Just finished "Storm of Steel" by Ernst Junger. Marvelous if harrowing stuff. Seems like Junger spent 4 years getting pummeled by British artillery.

I see you have "Fighting the Flying Circus." but have you read the full autobiography, "Rickenbacker" by the man himself?
I vividly remember pulling that tome off my Uncle's shelf when I was a youngster and getting lost in the tale.

Quite a life. Auto racer, American Ace of Aces, head of Eastern Airlines, lost at sea for a month in ww2. Even got to Russia during the war.
I do wonder if the WWI account in the autobiography is the same as the earlier ghost-written (?) "Fighting the Flying Circus."
I'm inclined to think there was some editing and perhaps some additions as he does mention that Jimmy Hall went on to write the Bounty Trilogy with Charles Nordhoff in 1934.
How I remember that fact some 40 years on I have no idea. If only I could recall what I had for breakfast today...


Epower, “Rickenbacker” is one of the favorites in my library. Not only because it is an outstanding book but it is signed by the the man himself. My wife gave it to me for our anniversary. Just holding it makes the hair on my neck stand up.
Posted By: Pooch

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/30/20 04:59 AM

Impressive collection. I think that Floyd Gibbon's, "The Red Knight Of Germany," is still the best one written about Richtofen.
Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/30/20 12:35 PM

.

Duke, I agree, there aren't many single-source works out there like Alex's.

Epower, I’ve not read Junger’s book, I will have to look that one up. I have read Rickenbacker’s autobiography and it is excellent.

Jim, I totally agree with both your Peter Hart recommendations, those should be read by anyone with an interest in this subject.

Shredward, I think you've come in the wrong side of the pub, the discussion you want is going on at the other end. biggrin

MFair, I remember back when you posted about getting that copy. What a great gift! And I know precisely what you mean; holding an old book that has been held and signed by its author gives you that instant connection. I’ve had the hair-raising feeling and the chills on many occasions over the years with such volumes, and I love it every time it happens.

Pooch, Gibbon’s work is a good one, in particular because of its chronological proximity to the actual events. But for that same reason it also lacks things that have since come to light about the man and the legend. Still, one of the top must-reads on MvR.

.
Posted By: epower

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/30/20 06:23 PM

MFair, that's quite the jewel you have there.

Louvert - You'll enjoy Storm of Steel. Junger is a different cat as he really seemed to enjoy the war.
Wounded 14 times and the youngest recipient of Pour le Merite



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Posted By: Wodin

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/31/20 05:10 PM

Great book. One of the best Squadron books. I have a like new copy of it, was lucky getting it for the price I did aswell at the time.

A Revell has also written a superb novel "The Old Lie"
Posted By: Raine

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/31/20 07:55 PM

A good companion read to Storm of Steel is Some Desperate Glory by Edwin Campion Vaughan. It is the beautifully written diary of a British subaltern in early 1917. An absolutely terrific book!
Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 03/31/20 08:13 PM

.

Wodin, I've had Alex's novel on my someday list for quite a long while. Guess it's time I go find a copy.and give it look-see. Thanks for the reminder Wodin.

Yet another one for the list of must reads. Thanks Raine.

.
Posted By: kaa

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 04/01/20 10:56 AM

Hi, i do not see in your list "Combat Report" by Bill Lambert,an American fighting in the RFC/RAF, with around 20 kills . A good personal narrative , dealing with the spring and summer 1918 operations, n°24 squadron. As the title says, day by day experience of his time as a fighter pilot, lots of missions and combat descriptions against colourful Albatros and Fokker etc etc....
Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 04/01/20 02:27 PM

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kaa, another excellent one to put on the list. I read Lambert's book shortly after it was published in the mid-1970s while I was stationed in England. I liked it enough in fact to buy a copy back then, but unfortunately when I packed up after three years of overseas tours it somehow got left behind. I've been watching for another affordable 1st edition but each time I look it's always more than I want to spend. Good, clean copies in original jackets are usually pushing $150 or more. I surely do wish I hadn't lost that one I bought at Harrods way back when.

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Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 04/03/20 02:49 PM

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So I was doing my usual early month search of the various online book sellers and eBay and what should I find? An excellent 1st edition, in crisp, unclipped dust jackt, of Bill Lambert's previously mentioned book for the very, very low price of $34. I purchased it immediately and am now waiting for it to arrive from Ottawa. Talk about timely. smile2

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Posted By: Shredward

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 04/03/20 03:08 PM

Louvert. Would that be an Irish name ?

lucky bugger
shredward
Posted By: RAF_Louvert

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 04/03/20 03:18 PM

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Nope Shredward, it's Norwegian. But some of my ancestors did get over to Ireland on occasion back in the 10th and 11th centuries, so it's likely they brought some of that luck back with them, along with those fiery red-haired lassies they were so fond of.

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Posted By: kaa

Re: OT: What a fantastic Book - 04/05/20 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by RAF_Louvert
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So I was doing my usual early month search of the various online book sellers and eBay and what should I find? An excellent 1st edition, in crisp, unclipped dust jackt, of Bill Lambert's previously mentioned book for the very, very low price of $34. I purchased it immediately and am now waiting for it to arrive from Ottawa. Talk about timely. smile2

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Oh I got it second hand ina pocket edition for a very few euros/dollars some years ago ...the most incredible in his narrative is the one of his leave in London and the very strange way his combat career stopped ...biut the way he describes the combat missions is outstanding in its dryness...the guy was not a poet obviously, but a rough fighter.
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