Aces High: War in the Air Over the Western Front, 1914-18 (Cassell military classics) [Hardcover]

Aces High serves to remind us that, if not an entirely scrupulous politician, nor a perfect husband, Alan Clark really was a superb military historian. There has evolved something of a myth about the war in the air between 1914-1918. The myth goes that, while in the filth and gore of the trenches below, any idealism and chivalry quickly sputtered and died in the purer air above; the last noble heroes battled with each in one-to-one dogfights like knights of old. It is a myth that Clark shoots down in flames, with characteristic iconoclasm. One of the great RFC aces was Mick Mannock, famed for his encounter with a training instructor, out in a formation of six with five of his very green-horned pupils. Mannock first shot down the instructor and then ruthlessly pursued each of the novices and shot them down one by one. This wasn't chivalry, it was war, and although more elegant to watch, it was every bit as lethal as Passchendaele. The book is also superbly illustrated; there is a photograph of another ace, Albert Ball, who died at the age of 20. Here he is in black and white, looking like Rupert Brooke, only more handsome, clean- shaven, eager, boyish ... and quietly murderous. It is an image both troubling and unforgettable--much like the book. --Christopher Hart

A highly illustrated and compelling account of the war in the air over the Western Front in the First World War by the distinguished military historian and politician, Alan Clark.

A powerful and absorbing narrative history by Alan Clark, author of The Donkeys and Barbarossa. Richly illustrated in colour and black and white from contemporary sources. With a distinguished reputation as a military historian, Alan Clark is also well known as a Conservative politician and as the author of the bestselling Diaries.

Alan Clark established his reputation as a military historian with The Donkeys - an account of the First World War - and Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict 1941-45. He is also the author of The Fall of Crete, published in a new edition by Cassell in 1999. Alan Clark is well known to a wider public as a Conservative politician and as the author of his bestselling Diaries.