Soldiers of Fortune (Epic of Flight) [Hardcover]

Sterling Seagrave (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Time-Life Books (March 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809433257
• ISBN-13: 978-0809433254
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,142,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sterling Seagrave (born 1937) is the author of eleven non-fiction histories and biographies, many co-authored with his wife, Peggy Seagrave. He grew up in Asia, in the remote Golden Triangle opium country on the Burma-China border, when Burma was still part of British India. He is in the 5th generation of American medical missionaries and teachers who came to Burma in 1832. He was in Burma when it was invaded by Japan in 1942, but with other family members were aboard the last refugee ship to India. His father, bestselling author of Burma Surgeon and Burma Surgeon Returns, was General Stilwell's chief medical officer in the CBI Theater. In 1947-8 when Britain gave Burma its independence, multiple civil wars broke out that continue today, and led to a military dictatorship still in power now. He was educated at a boarding school in India, then later in North and South America. In 1958, he dropped out of college and went to Cuba, age 21, as a stringer for the Chicago Daily News, instead helping Fidelistas in Pinar del Rio move ammunition and medicines brought by smuggling boats from the Florida Everglades. Since age 18, he has been a journalist at various newspapers including four years at The Washington Post. In 1965 he resigned to freelance throughout Asia for magazines including TIME, LIFE, Newsweek, Esquire, GEO, Atlantic, and Smithsonian. In 1979, he began writing investigative books, about the secret use of chemical and biological weapons, followed by a series of books on the powerful dynastic families of Asia, revealing their true histories disguised by propaganda and hagiographies. Death threats from Taiwan followed publication of The Soong Dynasty, a nationwide bestseller and top choice of the Book of the Month Club. The film option was purchased by George Roy Hill and Paul Newman. Next came books about Japan's looting of Asia in WW2, and how the treasure "vanished" when it was secretly recovered by the CIA to bribe foreign dictators and oligarchs. More death threats caused him to move to Europe in 1985 with Peggy Seagrave. They are now French citizens, writing their twelfth book. Many have been bestsellers in multiple languages, including Mongol. In France Seagrave has published three French editions in Paris, and has had long interviews in Paris Match, Nouvel Observateur, and Valeurs Actuel. They lived on a sailboat for ten years, then moved ashore to restore a 13th C stone wine-cave first built by the Knights Templar. It is surrounded by vineyards, with fine views of the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. They have spent 17 years restoring it, while continuing to research and write books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The adventures of those fliers for whom the price was right . . ., September 3, 2007

By 

Marvin D. Pipher (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soldiers of Fortune (Epic of Flight) (Hardcover)

This is one of a series of books, by Time Life, which explores the history of aviation from its earliest stages up to the jet age (circa 1981). This particular volume presents a portion of that history from the standpoint of those who volunteered their services, generally for high pay, to fly for foreign powers, most often in secret and under extremely hazardous conditions. Their story is presented in five chapters. The first covers the early days; the second, the Spanish Civil War; the third, "The Flying Tigers;" the fourth, what the book terms "an airborne knight-errant;" and the fifth, the broader war in Southeast Asia which led to and culminated with the end of the Vietnam War.

I bought this book primarily because of the chapter about the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the Flying Tigers. That chapter intrigued me but, based on the book's title I also I hoped to learn a little more about the Lafayette Escadrille. In both regards, I was, somewhat disappointed. Surprisingly, little was said about the Lafayette Escadrille, and, for some inexplicable reason, the chapter on the Flying Tigers seemed to concentrate on the adventures of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, who, based on everything I've ever read, was one of the AVG's lesser lights. To make matters worse, much that was said about Boyington didn't quite agree with what I thought I already knew.

The rest of the book, however, was very interesting and quite informative. I learned a lot of history, particularly about the Spanish Civil War and the events leading up to the Vietnam War. I also learned what Claire Chenault did after his AVG folded and World War II came to an end. I also encountered some very interesting and unusual flyers about whom I previously knew nothing. The most interesting of these was the subject of Chapter 4, Sweden's Count Carl Gustave von Rosen, a man who always tried to fly for the right cause and who, unlike his fellow mercenaries, charged only a nominal wage and if the need arose would serve at his own expense. It's sad that Rosen met such a cruel end, but one can hope that he is remembered and recognized in Sweden for the hero he was in life.

As for the book: I would recommend it to anyone interested in aviation history, especially history told from the perspective of those few aviation adventurers who were willing to put their lives on the line for someone else's cause (as long as the price was right).