Books for historical background and enjoyment.

**Davot** · 08-15-2009 17:51

I'm an avid reader, so when I bought the game I began to try to zero in on some reading material that would be both entertaining and encouraging. I found the following books tonight:

1. "Fighting the Flying Circus" by Cpt. Edward V. Rickenbacker

I couldn't believe my eyes!

2. "Richthofen: Beyond the Legend of the Red Baron" by Peter Kilduff

Right off the front cover comes this info - Includes Richthofen's Air Combat Operations Manual!

3. The dream of Civilized Warfare: WW I Flying Aces and the American Imagination" by Linda R. Robertson

I'm unsure whether this book will really touch on aspects of the game that I'm interested in, but it looked like a good read, anyway.

**Oberst Hajj** · 08-15-2009 21:07

Rickenbacker's book is a good read.

**WilliamBarkerVC** · 08-23-2009 11:26

My list of books:

Winged Warfare. Bishop, William Avery, VC - a must read, I think.
Goshawk Squadron. Robinson
The Red Baron. Manfred Von Richtofen - his diaries. Another must read
Winged Victory. Yeates, VM. a 1934 recollection. Very good.
Barker, VC. Ralph, Wayne. Obviously, a brilliant book about the most decorated Canadian of the First World War.

These are my "air" collection, but it's always growing. My "ground" and "naval" collection are much larger. Especially the ground.

**Oberst Hajj** · 08-24-2009 06:54

I've read both Winged Warfare and The Red Baron many many years ago. Both were quite good and are still sitting on my book shelf to this day.

jasta6 · 08-28-2009 16:09

Here are some of the books I have and have read:

“The Airman’s War 1914-18” by Peter H. Liddle
Covering all aspects of the air war.

“Germans First Airforce, 1914-1918” by Peter Kilduff
Covering the beginnings of the German air force to its end in 1918

“Richthofen: Beyond the Legend of the Red Baron” by Peter Kilduff
A great book on the Baron

“September Evening” by Barry Diggens
A new look at what really happened to Werner Voß

Books I own but have not read yet:

“Billy Bishop: Canadian Hero” by McCaffery

“The Great War in the Air” by the Smithsonian

“The Skies on Fire” by the Smithsonian
I here this is a good book

This is some of the many books I have on the Great War.

I hope this helps you learn about a unique time in our worlds history.

Jim P

**WilliamBarkerVC** · 08-28-2009 18:18

Looks like some good books to check out Jim! Thanks!

jasta6 · 08-28-2009 18:37

Oh, I almost forgot, Ospray's Aircraft of the Aces. These are some EXCELENT books about the "aircraft and the Aces that flew them."

Italian Aces of World War 1 ACE 89
Pusher Aces of World War 1 ACE 88
Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I ACE 79
SE 5/5a Aces of World War I ACE 78
Albatros Aces of World War 1 Part 2 ACE 77
Early German Aces of World War I ACE 73
Pfalz Scout Aces of World War 1 ACE 71
Sopwith Pup Aces of World War 1 ACE 67
Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 ACE 66
Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1 ACE 63
Sopwith Triplane Aces of World War 1 ACE 62
Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1 ACE 53
Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1 ACE 52
Dolphin and Snipe Aces of World War 1 ACE 48
SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War 1 ACE 47
Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1 ACE 46
British and Empire Aces of World War 1 ACE 45
American Aces of World War 1 ACE 42
Fokker Dr I Aces of World War 1 ACE 40
SPAD VII Aces of World War 1 ACE 39
Nieuport Aces of World War 1 ACE 33
Albatros Aces of World War 1 ACE 32

More info here: http://www.ospreypublishing.com/sect...px?SectionID=2

**Davot** · 09-16-2009 06:35

Finished several flight-related books in the last few weeks - now on to the ground battle side of things; it'll certainly have some flight-related stories in it.

"The Somme: The Darkest Hour of the Western Front" by Peter Hart

**KirkH** · 09-16-2009 19:57

One of my faves is Flying Fury by James McCudden. His description of 56 Squadrons fight with Werner Voss is legendary.

Another book I'll never part with is Dr. Martin O'Connors Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918. I didn't know the Italian/Austro-Hungarian front even existed until I bought and read that book. It's got profiles, photos, color aircraft drawings, and detailed victory lists for every Austro-Hungarian ace. An awesome book.

Lastly, even though they're not books, every issue I have of Over the Front (the quarterly magazine of the League of WWI Aviation Historians) is a treasure.

**kaufschtick** · 09-18-2009 21:13

Just a couple books I have on the air war in WWI. Anybody have any others?

-They Fought For The Sky by Quentin Reynolds
-The Red Knight of Germany by Floyd Gibbons

I'm always looking for a good read.

**Davot** · 09-19-2009 13:53

You feller's will have me reading all these good books for year's to come. I've made a list of all your suggestions.

**Zeppelin** · 09-19-2009 16:41

Under The Guns Of The Red Baron by Norman Franks,Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery

**KirkH** · 09-19-2009 19:31

I have probably about fifty books of various types on Great War aviation and that doesn't include all the issues of Over the Front which are great reads in and of themselves.

I wouldn't know where to begin as far as which books to recommend. The Osprey "Aces" series are very well done. I just picked up "Pusher Aces" which is a great book about a subject we don't hear much about. It made me want to get out my DH-2 in Wings of War and go hunting for Eindekkers. It goes well with "Early German Aces" which documents the early exploits of Boelcke, Immelmann, etc.

Of all the books I've bought over the years, Dr. Martin O'Connors "Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918" is about as good as it gets. It covers every Austro-Hungarian ace with his own chapter, complete victory lists for each, lots of pictures, and color drawings showing their aircraft. It's awesome.

Octavian30 · 09-25-2009 23:09

What about

Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter

I have a lot of WW1 novels - many mentioned above - but all are in store at present - will try to get them out over xmas

**Oberst Hajj** · 09-26-2009 05:37

You Aussies have me curious about this Biggles guy... was that a children book down under?

**SHVAK** · 10-01-2009 10:14

New Osprey Book coming out later this month or next entitled:
SE5a vs Albatross DV. This is the third in a series. The others are SPAD XIII vs Fokker DVII, and Sopwith Camel vs Fokker DR1.

**Jmac** · 10-01-2009 19:09

Originally Posted by Col. Hajj

You Aussies have me curious about this Biggles guy... was that a children book down under?

Looks like He's the main character in a long line (over 100) of pulp fiction books from the early to 30s to the mid 60s.

http://www.biggles.info/

**Gravitypool** · 10-02-2009 13:28

Awesome book i bought today and i think it will appeal to most of you.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Air.../9781903223987

Despite the title, it has almost nothing to do with flight sims but it's an awesome and illustrative book covering all kinds of formations and maneuvers from all eras of aviation (from WW1 to missile tactics). It's near 250 pages, almost all are full color diagrams, showing everything you need to know to outsmart an enemy whatever you are flying.

Chapters cover air to tank strafing tactics, air to naval approaches, air to air dogfight maneuver... complemented with information from planes, pilots, interviews with aces, etc... (for me is being very informative 'cause i never know wich is the best way to approach a ship full of Borfors AA turrets... ¬¬)

I bought it for 19,90 € in Barcelona's Aerospace fair, but it's in english so most surely will be available everywhere.

**Oberst Hajj** · 10-02-2009 23:16

That sounds like a cool book. I might have to make a trip to the bookstore to check it out.

**Gauntlet** · 10-07-2009 16:40

I'm currently reading 'Airfields & Airmen Of Cambrai' by Mike O'Connor. It's one of a series basically walking the reader through a tour of the airfields used in a particular area and the men who flew from them. There are many archive photographs and up to date ones for comparison. The books cover Ypres, Arras, The Somme, The Channel Coast and Cambrai and can be found here -

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=358

On a lighter note the 6 Biggles books covering WW1 are all available in paperback and are good form of escapism.

WOW has rekindled my interest in the WW1 air war and I'm buying up every book I can find at present. When I was a kid I read a book called 'Wind In the Wires' by Duncan Grinnell-Milne. I seem to remember it being a terrific read but sadly I no longer have it.

**bsmith13** · 10-08-2009 07:56

"Knights of the Air" from Time/Life's Epic of Flight series is a really good book for a broad overview of the War in the Air during WWI. I know they just republished the series, but you can also find a good inexpensive used copy on amazon.com or abebooks.com.

Octavian30 · 10-08-2009 13:58

"No Parachute" by Arthur Gould Lee is a compilation of his dairy entries or letters he wrote straight after missions - very interesting insight on very day to day basis.

**WilliamBarkerVC** · 10-08-2009 20:25

Here's a very cool .pdf, I have read them before, and just remembered them:

A Rattle of Pebbles
http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-...cs/Pebbles.pdf

**Davot** · 10-20-2009 19:52

Just finished another good book concerning the first WW1 African-American pilot - Eugene Jaques Bullard who flew for the French. Even after the AEF made it to Europe, he was still in the French Air Service because of racial discrimination.

The story was excellent! It documents his life-long struggle to overcome so many obstacles to become a pilot. The book makes mention that he had 2 unconfirmed kills before prejudice killed his career. He served in the French Foreign Legion and the WW2 underground, as well.

Great read!