Good reads and ripping tales ..

wehyam · October 15th, 2008, 08:57

They also read more in 'the good old days'.. no telly see..no videos, no playstation..
and the mowgli story was a book not a comic film.. There was lots of TB and polio though and I cant ever remember being warm..

lofty_c2 · October 15th, 2008, 16:37

check out http://www.theaerodrome.com/books/

I reckon that list should keep anyone busy for a while. Might even cut down your flying time if you're not careful...

wehyam · November 10th, 2008, 13:00

As part of my 'homage' I'm reading .. They called it Passchendaele by Lyn MacDonald.
.. It's been mentioned before in this thread...

What a madhouse this planet is... Russia had 9 million casualties.. Germany 7, Austro Hungary 7, France 6..British Empire 3.. Italy 2 Turkey 1 Others(?) 1.2 , USA 0.36

**gaw** · November 30th, 2008, 04:28

Don't miss any of Derek Robinson's books.......WW1 and 2....they're drop dead great reads.

Rickitycrate · November 30th, 2008, 20:50

I can suggest Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson. Hard case squadron commander in this book is a real hoot, but I am glad to not be under his command. The story is humorous and portrays the circumstances for these men more truthfully than many other works that perhaps glorify too much. This book reminds me of the talk on this forum regarding surviving 17 hours in the air. I am enjoying this one so much I picked up War Story by the same author and will be getting Hornet's Sting as well.

**gaw** · December 1st, 2008, 03:45

some of his best are "Piece of Cake"....BOB, and "A Good Clean Fight"....MAW

catch22 · December 1st, 2008, 14:15

I'll join the Derek Robinson band wagon. His books on the WW1 air war are really very good. Highly recommended. I wish I could make a living like that

lederhosen · December 2nd, 2008, 04:46

Salute,

found a good link for those of us who can read.

http://www.raindesert.com/great_war/bibliography.html

Rickitycrate · December 7th, 2008, 11:10

Hi All, there are a great many books written by the aces/pilots themselves besides Rickenbackers books Billy Bishop, Renee Fonck, Capt. Hartney, Rudolph Stark and many others who survived the war wrote accounts. I suggest going to Advanced booksellers exchange aka ABE.com and doing a search for your flyer of interest you may be amazed at what is out there and how affordable some of the books are. Have fun and good luck! :mixedsmi:

cpirrmann · January 14th, 2009, 19:16

I picked up the book Combat and Command by Sholto Douglas in an antique store. I highly recommend it to all here. He presents the viewpoint from many roles as he started out flying BE2's then on to Sopwith 1 1/2's and then SE5A's. He also relates the viewpoints of pilot and squadron commander, sharing some information on flight schedule orders, offensives, where they actually patrolled, etc. It even sheds some light on some of the high level decisions that are still controversial. He went on to become Air Vice Marshall in command of Fighters during WWII, IRC. I haven't got that far yet.

Interlocutor · January 24th, 2009, 05:14

One of the best of the WW1 flying novels is Falcons of France by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

Nordhoff & Hall, the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty, both actually served in the Lafayette Flying Corps in WW1. After the war they wrote Falcons as a fictional account of their experiences.

Like most good historical novels it really puts you in the time & place.

rockmedic109 · January 24th, 2009, 07:14

I enjoyed reading Arch Whitehouse's books, though I found many historical inaccuracies in them {and his non-fiction books as well}.

There is a sad lack of good fiction of the era.

Bullethead · January 24th, 2009, 10:14

That Flying an Ugly Duckling eBook womenfly2 recommended is quite good. It's got very few dogfight stories, but it's full of the little details of life and flying an FE2. Sounds like it really sucked, even before they started shooting at you