Note
to production team at Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
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| This is Albert Ball, ace pilot of WW1 |
This is Alan Ball, world cup winner |
The old proofreading
needs work. You know that. But on to a more positive
note.
Peter
Hart's work will be well known to many of those reading
this review, for he has become a prolific
author on Great War subjects. He is in an enviable
position, for as Oral Historian at the Imperial War
Museum he has access to the rich collection of material
there and uses it to great effect in this, as in
his previous books. (If you are interested, Peter
is a very entertaining speaker on the subject too,
so if you have the chance and have not heard him,
do).
Not
too many works on the air war have concentrated on
the dramatic year of 1918 . This is rather
curious, as we see the emergence of co-ordinated
"all arms" fighting where the air component was key
to the ground war. This is no longer about individual
heroes like Ball, great circuses of scouts engaged
in deadly combat, and honourable regard for the
enemy. Air war in 1918 was more about interdiction,
ground strafing and tactical battlefield bombing,
strategic bombing of the enemy's industries and sheer,
grinding, crushing, stress.
Peter provides an
intelligent framework: it is the men of the air forces
that do the talking, for this book is laced throughout
with quotes. They are taken in the main from the IWM
collection, the Peter Liddle Personal Experience Collection
at Leeds and from the RAF Museum. For some reason,
W&N chose to print the quotes in a grey bold text
which is not easy to read by bedside lamp, but the
words are powerful, emotional and insightful.
Even at full cover
price this is well worth a read. It should appeal to
the mildly interested as well as more serious air buffs .
Great stuff.
Click
here for all the British Army and WW1 books you might
ever need
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