- Unknown Binding: 242 pages
- Publisher: Time-Life (1989)
- ASIN: B0006ES1KQ
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
I was like a cat on hot bricks. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I was like a cat on hot bricks. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Pierre Glosterman was a French pilot who choose to fight for the RAF in WW2 rather than the Free French. Despite reaching the rank of Wing Commander & recieving a host of medals by Britain he was disgracefully treated by the post-war French Government (because he fought for the brits). When he tried to join the French airforce he was only offered the rank of sous-lieutenant (pilot officer) a disgusting snub for one of the most experienced combat pilots to survive the war.
His book was written based on diaries he wrote at the time rather thanmemories & as a result is extremely accurate. He charts the rise of the RAF as the war progressed starting with Mark V Spitfires v Focke Wolfe'sover Calais & ending up flying Mark V Tempests against the new German Jet sover Germany itself.
I first read this when I was 12 & am delighted that its back in print. I still vividly remember reading about his high altitude interception of an Me109 over Scapa Flow (Orkney) in a Mark 8 high altitude Spitfire. Hepursued & downed the german in a near vertical dive from over 40,000 feet. In the course of that his Spitfire nearly exceeded the sound barrier which caused almost fatal damage to the airframe. His account of the subsequent forced landing in a Spitfire with a jammed canopy is real edge-of-the-seat stuff as is his account of crash landing a Tempest just days after watching a friend burn to death doing the same.
Buy this book! There's very few like it.
I've edited this to add in a new paragraph: the original version of the book was edited because of 'post war paper shortages'. Reading this version you realise that was a shocking lie. This is the unedited version which includes some pretty catty comments about De Gaulle and Montgomery, a few amazing allied cockups and one incident when Glostermann who really should have been rested and is strung out on the amphetamines needed to keep him flying has to be stopped from shooting down a B17 that ditches its bombs over a french town. This new version of the book tell you EXACTLY how WW2 was fought and won and is much better than the original sanitised version.
His book was written based on diaries he wrote at the time rather thanmemories & as a result is extremely accurate. He charts the rise of the RAF as the war progressed starting with Mark V Spitfires v Focke Wolfe'sover Calais & ending up flying Mark V Tempests against the new German Jet sover Germany itself.
I first read this when I was 12 & am delighted that its back in print. I still vividly remember reading about his high altitude interception of an Me109 over Scapa Flow (Orkney) in a Mark 8 high altitude Spitfire. Hepursued & downed the german in a near vertical dive from over 40,000 feet. In the course of that his Spitfire nearly exceeded the sound barrier which caused almost fatal damage to the airframe. His account of the subsequent forced landing in a Spitfire with a jammed canopy is real edge-of-the-seat stuff as is his account of crash landing a Tempest just days after watching a friend burn to death doing the same.
Buy this book! There's very few like it.
I've edited this to add in a new paragraph: the original version of the book was edited because of 'post war paper shortages'. Reading this version you realise that was a shocking lie. This is the unedited version which includes some pretty catty comments about De Gaulle and Montgomery, a few amazing allied cockups and one incident when Glostermann who really should have been rested and is strung out on the amphetamines needed to keep him flying has to be stopped from shooting down a B17 that ditches its bombs over a french town. This new version of the book tell you EXACTLY how WW2 was fought and won and is much better than the original sanitised version.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Like the other critics I love this book.
But how many aircraft did he shoot down and how many was he officially credited with? In one of the originals 23 and now 33.
Shores has Closterman with c 19.
This latest version is the best. A larger picture of Closterman is created, more irreverant to authority, the issue of losing track of Mouchotte and the criticsm that ensued creates an inpiring picture of a very brave, idiosyncratic fighter pilot. A great book
But how many aircraft did he shoot down and how many was he officially credited with? In one of the originals 23 and now 33.
Shores has Closterman with c 19.
This latest version is the best. A larger picture of Closterman is created, more irreverant to authority, the issue of losing track of Mouchotte and the criticsm that ensued creates an inpiring picture of a very brave, idiosyncratic fighter pilot. A great book
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Pierre Clostermanns The Big Show or Le Grande Cirque as it is in French,is re published in hardback.
This news sent me straight to the orderbutton ! I have the original book, which is an all time favourite. Thenew version contains more than I had expected, in 'new'chapters whichdetail his arrival in Britain initially, and go on to include severalother chapters, here and there throughout the book. At the end are detailsof wartime aircraft both British and German, and operational information.The original preface is now at the back, replaced by a new preface forthis 2004 edition written by the man himself.
The original is hard tocome by, but is included here in it's entirety. The only thing missing aresome of the photographs from the original, but these have been replacedwith different ones.
All in all, for those who know the book well, this is well worth a look,and for those who do not, I urge you to read it.
If you have ever read Antoine de St Exupery, Pierre Clostermann's bookwill be for you.
This news sent me straight to the orderbutton ! I have the original book, which is an all time favourite. Thenew version contains more than I had expected, in 'new'chapters whichdetail his arrival in Britain initially, and go on to include severalother chapters, here and there throughout the book. At the end are detailsof wartime aircraft both British and German, and operational information.The original preface is now at the back, replaced by a new preface forthis 2004 edition written by the man himself.
The original is hard tocome by, but is included here in it's entirety. The only thing missing aresome of the photographs from the original, but these have been replacedwith different ones.
All in all, for those who know the book well, this is well worth a look,and for those who do not, I urge you to read it.
If you have ever read Antoine de St Exupery, Pierre Clostermann's bookwill be for you.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Revealing
The original 1950's version of this book is one of my all time favourite reads so it was with some trepidation that I started to read this book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Michael Bruce
A book revisited
I first read this when I was a young teenager and into war stories. I loved it then and it's just as good now some 50 years later. Well written, it's difficult to put it down!
Published 6 months ago by Louisferdy
Great WW2 Fighter Pilot Memoir
An excellent memoir of the his time in the in the RAF from a French fighter pilot 1941-45. Interesting perspectives on the war from a Frenchman in the RAF; it is primarily his... Read more
Published 12 months ago by PS
One of the best WW2 aviation memoir you'll read
I have many books about WW2 aviation and this is one of my favourites. The action is full on and the tempo just gets faster and faster as the book goes on. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Andrew James
The Big Show
One of the best second world war fighter pilot stories ever written. Closterman was an extraordinary pilot and courted controversy with his autobiographies which allegedly may have... Read more
Published 15 months ago by sinx
Probably the best fighter pilot memoir about WW II
"The Big Show" is breathtaking.
But, make no mistakes, this updated version (unabridged, I mean) is much, much better than the originalk pusblished version which, of... Read more
But, make no mistakes, this updated version (unabridged, I mean) is much, much better than the originalk pusblished version which, of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by M. Fonseca
A well written story of a very interesting life
Pierre Costermann was the top scoring French ace in WWII flying Spitfires and Tempests in the RAF.
His life couldn't have been more interesting. Read more
His life couldn't have been more interesting. Read more
Published on 13 April 2010 by Gregory Gael
A different take on Warfare
The Big Show is one of the most wonderfully evocative and descriptive books I have ever read. I was given the hardback version when I was twelve in the early '50s and I never... Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2010 by A. P. Snape
Happy 70 year old
A friend bought this book many years ago; lent it to a friend, who some years later denied ever having it. Read more
Published on 8 May 2009 by P. F. Hall
Outstanding!
I discovered an earlier version of this book and absolutely loved it. This full version was even more interesting since it filled in a few gaps left in the earlier version. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2008 by Bookworm
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
