regular122
10 December 2017, 08:01 PM
Just finished "Marked for Death" by James Hamilton-Patterson, published by Head of Zeus in 2015.
Patterson is a well known novelist (Gerontius and others) that also has had some very successful history such as "Empire of the Clouds." He is a superb writer with a fast flowing style that also slips you some occasional wit to keep you paying attention.
This book does not disappoint. Rather than cover a chronology of the First Air War, Hamilton-Patterson takes to the air by topics and then compares the various major combatants in those areas. This makes for some fascinating reading, especially for forumites who are always making such comparisons.
Such topics as the air war and politics, armament development for aircraft, what combat missions were and how they developed, how pilots were trained and which nations did it better, how the pilots really lived at the front, the aces and how their nations used them, air medicine and what was known and not known, the real story behind the parachutes, the various fronts and home defense--all these fill the pages with fascinating narrative from first person sources throughout.
The book contains some real gems, even for the well-read on WWI aviation. Hamilton-Patterson broadens the scope even further by showing how it wasn't just engine production that affected the frontline deliveries but it was also the strikes and horrid conditions by workers in doping sheds that were literally losing their lives through lack of ventilation; how the Sidcot suit was developed and named; pilot slang and how it came about; and what each nation did well and not so well, etc.
As tightly written as it is, there is the occasional gaff to keep the historians on their toes, such as Richthofen's death on 23 April or three classes of the Iron cross to name a couple. But these are more editing than content. As to content that I didn't quite subscribe to, it would have been in the evolutionary speculation in the medical section. Still, the book is superb, even in a time when you think you have read about all there is in a single volume survey of WWI Aviation.
On top of the great and engaging reading style and fresh history, the book is classically made. A handsome cover and colored endpapers depicting scenes from the awesome painting "Panorama of the Western Front" by William Lionel Wyllie. Photographs that include period snaps along with color flying survivors and replicas to get a good look at them. And on top of that, when most authors abandon such nice features as color photos and color endpapers (if they even have them at all) to save money, the author even throws in a nice built-in ribbon bookmark.
All in all it is a handsome book for the shelf, a top pick for any single volume aerial war survey, and a great read for the mind. Steve
Patterson is a well known novelist (Gerontius and others) that also has had some very successful history such as "Empire of the Clouds." He is a superb writer with a fast flowing style that also slips you some occasional wit to keep you paying attention.
This book does not disappoint. Rather than cover a chronology of the First Air War, Hamilton-Patterson takes to the air by topics and then compares the various major combatants in those areas. This makes for some fascinating reading, especially for forumites who are always making such comparisons.
Such topics as the air war and politics, armament development for aircraft, what combat missions were and how they developed, how pilots were trained and which nations did it better, how the pilots really lived at the front, the aces and how their nations used them, air medicine and what was known and not known, the real story behind the parachutes, the various fronts and home defense--all these fill the pages with fascinating narrative from first person sources throughout.
The book contains some real gems, even for the well-read on WWI aviation. Hamilton-Patterson broadens the scope even further by showing how it wasn't just engine production that affected the frontline deliveries but it was also the strikes and horrid conditions by workers in doping sheds that were literally losing their lives through lack of ventilation; how the Sidcot suit was developed and named; pilot slang and how it came about; and what each nation did well and not so well, etc.
As tightly written as it is, there is the occasional gaff to keep the historians on their toes, such as Richthofen's death on 23 April or three classes of the Iron cross to name a couple. But these are more editing than content. As to content that I didn't quite subscribe to, it would have been in the evolutionary speculation in the medical section. Still, the book is superb, even in a time when you think you have read about all there is in a single volume survey of WWI Aviation.
On top of the great and engaging reading style and fresh history, the book is classically made. A handsome cover and colored endpapers depicting scenes from the awesome painting "Panorama of the Western Front" by William Lionel Wyllie. Photographs that include period snaps along with color flying survivors and replicas to get a good look at them. And on top of that, when most authors abandon such nice features as color photos and color endpapers (if they even have them at all) to save money, the author even throws in a nice built-in ribbon bookmark.
All in all it is a handsome book for the shelf, a top pick for any single volume aerial war survey, and a great read for the mind. Steve