The First Great Air War

1914, and the war in the skies is just beginning.

At first the flying machine was hardly taken seriously; it was an odd, accident-prone diversion for the rich and the obsessed. But when the Royal Flying Corps set off for France in 1914, every facet of air-warfare was about to be discovered.

Four years later and the pace of development led to the complete evolution of aviation: from fighters to bombers, from ground attack to reconnaissance, from the inevitably disastrous to the epitome of engineering successes.

The First Great Air War is the full, fascinating account of how a handful of men, with a love of flying and adventure, went to war and transcended the boundaries of technological possibility.

Praise for Richard Townshend Bickers:
‘A valuable history of the air war that began it all … by an ex-flyer of the Second World War who has a genuine feeling for the feats of his predecessors’ - The Birmingham Post

‘His sympathy with the fighting man (and woman) shines out of every page’ - Liverpool Daily Post

Richard Townsend Bickers volunteered for the RAF upon the outbreak of the Second World War and served, with a Permanent Commission, for eighteen years. He wrote a range of military fiction and non-fiction books, including Torpedo Attack, My Enemy Came Nigh, Bombing Run, Fighters Up and Summer of No Surrender.