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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable book about the lives of WWI fighter pilots,
By
This review is from: The First of the Few; Fighter Pilots of the First World War (Hardcover)
Generally speaking, the First World War was not one that lent itself to the romantic. For most of its participants, it was a war experienced in the tedium and mud of trench warfare, or in mighty warships sitting at anchor awaiting orders for the occasional sortie. Yet in the skies above the Western Front, groups of men fought a very different war, one often characterized by individual exploit and elements of chivalry that were lost in the battlefields below. In this book, Denis Winter examines the experiences of the pilots, the challenges they faced, and their efforts to cope with combat in a new medium.Winter's book follows the same pattern as that of Death's Men: Soldiers of the Great War, his earlier work examining the lives of men who fought on the Western Front. Through memoirs, manuals, and contemporary documents, he presents the rhythms of the aviator's experience, following them from their initial recruitment in England to their deployment to France. His focus is predominantly on the men of the Royal Flying Corps; the experiences of French and German aviators are only discussed to contrast them with those of their British counterparts or to illustrate a general point. The comparison is useful in setting out the uniquely British aspects of the aviator's service, such as the often amateurish approach the British took towards training the men to fly. More often, however, Winter lets the men speak for themselves, drawing liberally from firsthand accounts to convey the daily patterns of the air war, from the dawn patrol to the work of mechanics to prepare for the next day's activities. Winter's book makes for a nice complement to more traditional histories of air combat in the First World War. Its flaws are ones of omission, as its narrow focus on the pilots on the Western Front generally ignores the experiences of those who fought and flew in the many other theaters of the war. This is particularly regrettable given Winter's ability as a writer; the book is informative and easy to read, presenting the men's lives with a clarity and insight that would have been appreciated had it been applied to examining the challenges of air combat on other fronts. Nevertheless, Winter succeeds in providing a good study of what life was like for the pilots of the canvas biplanes that soared above the trenches of France and Belgium, one that is highly recommended for anyone seeking to learn more about them.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why you should read the first of the few.,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: First of the Few: Fighter Pilots of the First World War (Hardcover)
I read the first of the few. It was an excellent book and I really enjoyed it. My opinion is that if you wish to learn about the fighter aircraft of wolrd war one, this is the book for you. I learned a lot.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Justice to the Few,
By
This review is from: First of the Few: Fighter Pilots of the First World War (Hardcover)
I have just finished reading this book which was such a pleasure to read as it was so well researched and crafted. The writer is able to get into the spirit of the times and present a very real picture of what it was like to fly machines constructed from wood and canvas and fly without them without the the aid of parachutes. He gives a particularly vivid account of the perils of a dawn patrol, flying at 20,000ft without pressurized cabins, in open air cockpits where temperatures were sometimes -50c. In addition a pilot had to be fit in these conditions, perform complex aerobatics like the immlemen roll and have split second reflexes. It was particularly fascinating to read about the skills required to be an air ace. One had to master the art of deflection shooting that is knowing when to fire to hit a moving target. Few pilots mastered this skill. The greatest of aces such as Guneymer and Richthoven achieved kills with a minimum of ammunition usage. Under these conditions the average survival time for a debutant pilot was 17 hours in the air. However, the longer one flew the greater the survival odds: roghly double that of staying alive. One interesting point was the authors comparison of training between the English RFC and the German Luftwaffe. The German training was far longer and more thorough. The result was that the RFC had about 50% greater caualties than the Germans.One must add that the policy of the RFC was to attack the Germans behind enemy lines , whereas the Luftwaffes main aim was that of defence. One final note was the excellant chapter on flight maintenance. The Sopwith Camel for example required a fleet of skilled craftsmen of almost mediaeval ability to calibrate the wing struts and enable the plane to fly on even keel. The introduction of all metal momonplanes must havemade the job of aircraft fitter a much easier task. In summary a book to be highly recommended. I have only one complaint. Many of the air aces of the RFC described as British were in fact Canadian
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