A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS IN WORLD WAR I. by Barker, Ralph - 2002

London: Robinson, 2002. 507 pp, small 8vo (7 3/4" H). B&w photographs. "(T)he compelling story of the vital role played by the pioneer pilots and observers of the Royal Flying Corps who served their apprenticeships in the unforgiving skies of World War I. The RFC took part in all the major battles from Mons to the Somme, from Bloody April 1917, when the airmen suffered enormous casualties, through Third Ypres and Passchendaele, up to the chaotic retreat from Ludendorff's offensive and on to the threshold of victory. Drawing from letters and diaries of the men who took part, Ralph Barker successfully recreates an overview of the battlegrounds from the menacing skies above France and brings fresh off the pages the exhilaration of aerial combat in the little open-cockpit biplanes. Risking their lives for their country, suffering the strain of low-level flying, the debility of the 'shakes', and the ever-present fear that they would not return from a mission, these brave young men nevertheless enjoyed comradeship and a true sense of bonding, between pilots and ground mechanics, observers and gunners." Interior - place, date and initials in ink on title page; a few pages with tiny bump/crease at bottom corner; otherwise clean and tight with no other ownership marks. Exterior - very light browning to edges of text block, faint crease on spine, small corner crease on rear cover.. Reprint. Soft Cover. Very Good.