Whats your favorite biography book of famous aces?

[+Paarma 0]

Hi,

 

I have read few biography books of ww1 aces, The Red Baron- Beyond the Legend by Peter Kilduff ISBN-10: 0304352071, and now Black Fokker Leader Carl Degelow - The First World War's Last Airfighter Knight by Peter Kilduff ISBN: 9781906502287.

 

So im now quite addicted to read more books about life of the famous aces in ww1. So please add here books you would recommend.

Please remember add also ISBN if you have it.

 

 

 

[Olham 164]

Ernst Udet: Mein Fliegerleben

 

http://www.amazon.de/Mein-Fliegerleben-Ernst-Udet/dp/B001V9SWMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252273601&sr=8-1

 

You can get here the original print from the nineteen-thirties.

 

It's a great read by a nice chap; he describes his first flights as an observer pilot with his first crash;

how he overcame the firing inertia, and then the way through the war at the sides of pilots like von Richthofen

Gontermann, Goering; his duel with Guynemer; and so much more, written by of one of the few, who survived all that.

 

If you can't read German - the book was also released in English, but I forgot the title.

Can someone help here?

[Waldemar Kurtz 1]

Ernst Udet: Mein Fliegerleben

 

http://www.amazon.de...52273601&sr=8-1

 

You can get here the original print from the nineteen-thirties.

 

It's a great read by a nice chap; he describes his first flights as an observer pilot with his first crash;

how he overcame the firing inertia, and then the way through the war at the sides of pilots like von Richthofen

Gontermann, Goering; his duel with Guynemer; and so much more, written by of one of the few, who survived all that.

 

If you can't read German - the book was also released in English, but I forgot the title.

Can someone help here?

 

the English title is called "Ace of the Iron Cross", or some such thing.

 

the biography of Oswald Boelcke by Johannes Werner is the best book on this pioneering ace-- who debatebly may be called the grandfather of fighter doctrine. (it's also the only one in English)

 

"The Stand: the last flight of Frank Luke" is not exactly a straight biography--but it's a great book.

 

"Wind in the Wires" by Grinnell-Milne is good

 

ANYTHING by Cecil Lewis is generally worth reading. "Farewell to Wings" gives you a great idea of what it was like to fly the early planes. "Sagitarius Rising" chronicles his career as an aviator in the First World War.

 

"No Parachute" by Arthur Gould Lee is supposed to be pretty good--but it's out of print and SO expensive I never picked it up. the parts of it I've read in other books and anthologies was great--so I'll probably save up for that one.

 

the James McCudden auto-biography is fantastic. definitely worth reading-- he goes into great detail about tactics and why the worst thing a two-seater can do is dive away from an attacker! (I'll let you guess why ;)

 

"Horses Don't Fly" by Frederick Libby (one of the earliest American aces) is a fun book.

 

"Notes from a Lost Pilot" by Jean Berraud-Villars is a great French book about a guy who starts off in "miserable Farmans" and eventually gets his way into flying Nieuports and SPADs. this under-rated and comparatively unknown book is probably one of THE BEST auto-biographies of an aviator from the First World War. (it's called more or less the same thing in English, which is the version I read)

 

"the Red Baron Combat Wing" by Kilduff is excellent-- it's basically a squadron biography of Richthofen's career and aftermath. definitely one of my all-time faves.

 

"Sharks Among Minnows" is not the easiest read--but it's a marvelous compilation of the earliest Fokker pilots and their exploits. one of my favorites.

 

"Shooting the Front" was an expensive and fairly hard to read book which details the evolution of aerial recon-work for the Allied air forces from day one until the end of the war--and beyond. grab yourself a good used copy because this thing will probably be worth hundreds of dollars 20 years from now. even if you don't like it, it'll be worth saving so you can sell it to somebody else. one of the finest bits of scholarship on aviation in the Great War that I've ever read.

 

"French Strategic Tactical Bombing" by Rene Martel isn't technically a biography--but it has a lot of biographical passages. this chronicles the efforts of French bomber flights throughout the war. very good stuff.

 

"the Eagle of Lille" has a few facts wrong here and there--but overall is a great read. it was written by Max Immelmann's brother--and is one of the early standards of the subject. pretty much the only good book on Immelmann that's found its way into English.

 

I might be able to come up with more later-- but that's a lot of suggestions right there. I want to save some suggestions for other people! :o

[Rickitycrate 10]

"Wings of War" Rudolph Stark

 

"In the Teeth of the Wind" Memoir of the Royal Naval Air Service in the First World War by Sqaudron Leader C P O Bartlett DSC

 

"Up and at 'em" Harold Hartney

 

"Fighting Airman; the Way of the Eagle" Major Charles Biddles

[RAF_Louvert 101]

"Heaven High, Hell Deep", Norman Archibald

"High Adventure", James Norman Hall

"Sagittarius Rising", Cecil Lewis

"Fighting the Flying Circus", Edward Rickenbacker

"Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps", James McCudden

"Flying for France", James McConnell

 

 

There are many, many others.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

[JimAttrill 24]

King of Air Fighters: The Biography of Major "Mick" Mannock, V.C., D.S.O., M.C. (Paperback) by Ira Jones (Author)

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books (October 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853670383
• ISBN-13: 978-1853670381

This from Amazon, but the book is out of print. I found an old hardback copy in a 2/h bookshop.

 

Ira Jones is of course Wing Commander Ira (Taffy) Jones who was an ace himself and wrote the history of the RAF and served through WWII.

Edited September 7, 2009 by JimAttrill

[+Paarma 0]

Wow! There is so many! Thanks guys

[Tonyo - legion 2]

Heres a Few That I've either read that i think are really top rate; or that Ive just bought & cant wait to read

 

Sagittarius rising by Cecil Lewis ISBN 0 7515 0931 0

 

First Blitz by Neil Hanson ISBN 978-0-552-15548-9

 

A Brief History of the Royal Flying Corps by Ralph Barker ISBN 1-84119-470-0

 

September Evening the life of Werner Voss by Barry Diggens ISBN 1-904010-47-4

 

Flying Fury - Five years in the Royal flying Corps by James McCudden VC ISBN 0905-778-58-8

 

Aces Falling by Peter Hart ISBN 978-0-7538-2407-8

 

Bloody April By Peter Hart ISBN 0-3043-6719-2

 

Fighting the Flying Circus By Edward Rickenbacker from the lakeside press

 

Aces Twilight By Robert Jackson ISBN 0-7474-0121-7

 

 

 

& some books just out, or ones that i have aquired & that i have & not read yet, but first impressions seem very good

 

Osprey Publishing - Aviation Elite Units No 56 Sdn RAF/RFC by Alex Revell ISBN 978-1-84603-428-2

 

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces no 88, Pusher Aces of World War 1 by Jon Guttman ISBN 978-1-84603-417-6

 

Captain Albert Ball by RH Kiernan from the Aviation Book Club - printed 1939

 

Jasta Boelcke by Norman Franks ISBN 1-904010-76-8

 

The Red Barons last Flight by Norman franks & Alan Bennett ISBN 1-904943-33-0

 

 

Although they arent all autobiographies of individual pilots/Airmen, they really do describe the times & situations really well.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Tonyo - legion

[Dutch_P47M 9]

maybe nice info from this WW1 forum http://forum.combatace.com/olde-library-t24902.html

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest British_eh]

Hi there:

 

The Aerodrome web site has a link to research books and they have them rated, form what I can remember. Got most ideas from there,, also Amazon Books, which ahs a rating system, and Google books web site for locaating books, ( ie: Library, Amazon, etc.)

 

Cheers,

 

British_eh