One of my absolute favorites as a young teen. I re-read several times since and still find it great.
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2/26/15

Still an amazing story of war, revenge, and the toll of war on those who fought it. It is also about the myth of the glorious men in their lanes during the First World War. The characters are realistic and cover a broad range of interests. Some men live for the war or the romantic idea of war. Others live so they can return to life. Some men look after their interests and others are simply happy to be out of the slaughter of trenches.

Probably four stars if I read it for the first time today, but it has sayed with me for almost forty years now. ( )

WWI landscape. ... the blood rivalry between the French ace Sgt. Chamay and his personal enemy, German Lt. Kupper. Look for some interesting subplots: the adventures of the ham from Kempinsky's, the comic (and sometimes dangerous) mishaps of Chamay's mechanics, and Sgt. Chamay's bicycle trip through the terrible aftermath of the Nivelle Offensive. The author has avoided the cliches about knights of the air. He spares nothing about the lethal and grisly nature of fighting, without parachutes, in what were little more than cloth-and-wood kites. And Chamay's battle with Kupper is not a duel but a search for vengeance: he wants to kill him, not joust.

WWI landscape. ... the blood rivalry between the French ace Sgt. Chamay and his personal enemy, German Lt. Kupper. Look for some interesting subplots: the adventures of the ham from Kempinsky's, the comic (and sometimes dangerous) mishaps of Chamay's mechanics, and Sgt. Chamay's bicycle trip through the terrible aftermath of the Nivelle Offensive. The author has avoided the cliches about knights of the air. He spares nothing about the lethal and grisly nature of fighting, without parachutes, in what were little more than cloth-and-wood kites. And Chamay's battle with Kupper is not a duel but a search for vengeance: he wants to kill him, not joust.

A very, very long time since I read this book. (When I was 17 or so. As I said, very, very long time ago ;-)

It was one of the first combat aviation books I have ever read. And as far as I remember - if my dwindling memory serves me well - it did actually get to me. ( )

Had read this book about 15 years ago, and enjoyed it very much. It is a world war 1 aviation novel, published in 1966. Although I am not a huge reader of war novels, the ww1 aviation fiction and non fiction titles are very interesting to me. Of the fiction titles, this one just might be the best. Ernest Gann is a superb writer, and along with his other qualifications, he was a very skilled aviator, when that profession was in its early stages.
I had just decided to reread this title, which is saying a lot for me. If you love reading, you just have to make the time, despite overtime and other issues. This is a ww1 aviator novel, which begins briefly in Dec. 1916. A French airman is killed, mercifully, from the German aviator's perspective, but murderously, from the victim's best friend's perspective. The rest of the book happens in basically a two month period, from April, 1917 to May, 1917. The victim's best friend is consumed with revenge, and the German who gunned that victim down is consumed by guilt. Interesting to see how others from their squadrons feel about their own status in the war at that point in time.
This is one of my very favorite books that I have read. Ernest
Gann is a favorite author of mine, the book is well written, and won't let you down. ( )