ACES FALLING: WAR ABOVE THE TRENCHES,1918.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 .] FINE+/FINE+. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,sepia and part-coloured/ tinted contemporary photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj with glossy,capitalised red-lettered part-title; glossy capitalised black-lettered sub-title and glossy,capitalised,black-lettered author's name to front panel of dw/dj; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered title author name as front's and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered initialled name to foot of same,rear panel with critics' black+red lettered reviews of author's title 'The Somme' with a thumbnail contemporary aircrew+ 'planes sepia photograph.Negligible shelf-wear, bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks, tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright,crisp, clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp, unblemished sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt lettering, and immaculate plain pale khaki endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-386pp [paginated] includes author's Preface,14 chapters,16pp contemporary b/w photographs in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp114/15 and pp242/43 respectively, Acknowledgements,Notes to the Text,an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication, separate Contents & Illustrations lists/tables,3 b/w regional maps: Aerodromes In France+Belgium,1918; Map of the German Somme Offensive and a map of the German Lys Offensive. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 15+ year-old age. It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness, brightness and lack of detracting faults. By 1918 the great First World War 'aces' had become the stuff of legend,and names like Manfred von Richthofen,James McCudden and Edward Mannock were powerful symbols of the warring nations.To their contemporaries these men seemed invincible.Their tactical genius,aerobatic flying skills and deadly gunnery had left a trail of burning aircraft in the skies above France. But the very nature of war was changing. In a desperate measure to counter the vast ground offensives of that spring,scouts were sent on strafing missions,skimming just feet above the roads and the trenches where they were vulnerable to ground fire.The size of formations began to grow on both sides,and sheer numbers of aircraft began to outwiegh individual skills in combat.Increasingly the air war was being fought through bombing raids, conducted by day and night,where all the hard-won specialist skills of the scouts were barely relevant. As the war changed around them the aces were pushed to their physical and mental limits.The effects of constant high altitude flying without oxygen in open cockpits slowly eroded their health.Increasingly they were tortured by inner fears that they might share the fate of the men they had killed,and as the year wore on the aces began to fall,one by one. In this book Petrer Hart tells the whole tragic story of the air war in 1918.Using the voices of the men themselves,he describes exactly what it was like to fight and die in the skies over the Western Front.At the same time he relates the air war to the fighting on the ground,and shows how developments in bombing and strafing not only brought a new dimension to the Great War,but also pointed the way to the wars of the future. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **