Quote:
Originally Posted by wacoavn
Flammer was an Air Force veteran who was able to interview surviving members of the LE in the 1960s and often had access to their personal papers. ... Flammer's end notes read as interesting as the book itself and his lists of references has been a true Rosetta Stone / road map for my own research.
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Having just finished reading the paperback edition of
The Vivid Air, I'd like to add my recommendation that this book should be in the library of anyone with an interest in the story of the Lafayette Escadrille. I have a number of the references listed in Flammer's bibliography, but these were acquired over time, and were like loose photographs stuffed into the pages of an album without any effort to sort them into some sort of order. Flammer has rather skillfully woven these references into a chronological history that reads well!
There is a good deal of information that I have not seen in any other references. I assume that much of this was obtained from the personal interviews and correspondence between Flammer and a number of people who either flew with the Lafayette Escadrille, or had some other association with the escadrille and its' members.