Customer Reviews

Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920

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It's astonishing that this landmark achievement in WW I aviation history has not garnered a slew of 5-star reviews over the years. When "ATT" appeared in 1991 it ushered in a renaissance in Great War aero history, and the subsequent titles in the series only enhanced the authors' already sterling reputations.

Building on the format previously established in "Aces High," the RAF WW II volume, ATT proved a winner. With some 800 entries on individual pilots plus a wealth of squadron information, it offers a one-stop shopping center (centre?) for Great War students. It also opened many eyes, as the long-accepted victory scores were laid bare for study. the peculiar British victory credit system gave an inflated impression in terms of raw numbers, but ATT showed the details. For instance, the always controversial Billy Bishop's 72 included "only" 55 destroyed or captured, the rest being "out of control." Though a minority of the WW I "aces" listed here would have been considered as such in WW II, the enormous amount of data remains tremendously impressive.

Hours and hours and hours of informative perusal await the owner of Above the Trenches.