War in the Air: True Accounts of the 20th Century's Most Dramatic Air Battles-By the Men Who Fought Them

Coonts has taken excerpts from memoirs and biographies of men who flew fighters and bombers in the 20th Century. While we learn a bit about the planes they flew, the focus of the book is on the men.

He covers most major wars of the 20th Century except Korea. His first excerpt is about the first

Show More

pilot to shoot down a Zeppelin in WW I. The final entry is about the last American to achieve the title of ace. Because of advances in technology, there probably will be no more.

Some of the fliers such as Rickenbacker, Alan Deere, Robert Scott, Ted Lawson, Doolittle, "Pappy: Boyington, Adolf Galland, Saburo Saki abd Paul Tibbitts will be familiar to readers of air war books.

The advantage of this collection is that one can see how the progression of technology influenced how men fought one another in the air.

Coonts includes a bibliography of the books from which he selected the entries.

Show Less