THE FIRST GREAT AIR WAR. by Bickers, Richard Townshend - 1988

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988. 277 pp, large 8vo (9 1/2" H). B&w photographs. "(T)he story of air operations during the First World War, 1914-1918, mainly on the Western Front. It was only eleven years after the Wright Brothers' first flight that the Royal Flying Corps set off for France and every aspect of air-fighting had to be discovered for the first time. Richard Townshend Bickers gives a fresh and challenging view of the men involved, their aircraft and the conditions of war. The pilots and observers of all the combatant nations tended to be young courageous individuals, filled with a love of flying and of adventure. Their aircraft were fragile and unreliable and casualties were appallingly heavy. It was a period of great technical advances when aerial warfare and tactical teamwork were transformed. (The author gives an account of) Lieutenant General Sir David Henderson's leading role in the formation and development of the Royal Flying Corps (and while not neglecting the 'aces', he) also gives due recognition to the less famous pilots, to the usually overlooked air observers and gunners who flew in two-seater fighters, and to the crews who carried out the less glamorous but equally important reconnaissance and bombing sorties." Minor wrinkling at top/bottom of spine, slight toning in margins of pages, very light browning to edges of text block. Dust jacket is price-clipped, has minor edge wear/wrinkling, light browning to spine, light rubbing - mainly on rear panel.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.