Good WWI Books, What are your favorites?

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I am not looking for a dry history book but a good read that gives a good feel for what it was like to be a Pilot or how the war affected the design of the airplains and engines.

Even a good Novel that covers the time period.
 
In this order for me:

The way of the Eagle ( John Biddle , an amazing almost day by day week by week account of a fighter pilot in the thick of it, it would be hard to top for what you are looking as far as what it was like to be a pilot because it was taken from his own writing on the days the stuff happened)

I flew for the Lafayette Escadrille (Edwin C. Parsons, a grand adventure and a book that really brings home the sacrifices that fighter pilots must make in order to do what they feel is right, a literal blow by blow account on how the Lafayette heroes fell one by one, very funny at times as well as very sad...the book had it all)

Ace of the Iron Cross (Ernst Udet, a dark and fascinating book that is a Harbringer of things to come for Udet, and almost rivals the Rickenbacker book for flat out adventures outside of WW1)

Ace of Aces (the story of who could be maybe the best ace ever....Rene Fonck...when you start taking into account that 73 of his 75 kills were individual kills and not shared...also confirmed by army as well as flight mates due to the french system of awarding victories...that he was not liked and that it actually worked against him , that he never got even one enemy bullet hit his plane...well..you marvel at his exploits and his final score.)

Rickenbacker (Eddie Rickenbacker , very fascinating with great WW1 stuff...Indiana Jones had nothing on this guy, famous race car driver, famous WW1 ace, famous WW2 secret envoy lost at sea in a raft for a month as well as inside a bunker at the front lines when the battle of Kursk started on the eastern front , famous CEO and founder of eastern air lines ..., you could not make this crazy stuff up , fact really is stranger than fiction with him).
 
Canvas Falcons {I think it was Stephen Longstreet} was quite enjoyable to read. Some of the stories are questionable, but it was very entertaining.

Arch Whitehouse's book on the Lafayette Flying Corps was an enjoyable book, but again it diverged from the truth in some areas.
 
- Saggitarius Rising by Cecil Lewis

- All Osprey published books

- Aviation awards of Imperial Germany in WW1 and the men who earned them by Neil O´Connor

- The Red Baron: Beyond The Legendby Peter Kilduff by Peter Kilduff

- Under the guns of the Red Baron by Norman Franks, Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery

- Max Immelmans wroted letters to his Mother. "Meine Kampfflüge" (1916-1917) translated to Finnish. Dont remember Finnish name of the book.
 
Fiction:
Hunter, Jack D. - The Blue Max
Robinson, Derek - Goshawk Squadron, Hornet's Sting et al

Historical narratives:
McKee, Alexander - The Friendless Sky
Bodenschatz - Hunting With Richthofen
Reynolds, Quentin - They fought for the sky
Richthofen, Manfred - The Red Air Fighter

I'll need to check the attic and find my other books. Heartily second the recommendation for Sagittarius Rising. I would also recommend Norman Franks' books.
 
Bloody April, Black September, by Norman Franks, Russell Guest, and Frank Bailey.
Day-by-day lists of dogfights and losses, comparison of real losses vs. claims filed, who killed whom, etc., for April 1917 at Arras and September 1918 over the Meuse-Argonne.
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Independent Force, by Keith Rennles.
Day-by-day operations of the futile, doomed, but daring efforts of the Independent Air Force's DH4 and DH9 squadrons to conduct a long-range, strategic bombing campaign in 1918.
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The Sky on Fire, by Raymond H. Fredette.
Day-by-day operations of the futile, doomed, but daring efforts of the Gotha and Riesen aircraft to conduct a long-range, strategic bombing campaign in 1917-1918. Mostly told from the German side with lots of anecdotes from veterans (the book was written in 1966).
​
Fighting Airman, by Charles Biddle.
Personal account of a US Spad pilot, mostly his diary entries. Very good stuff, so good that the History Channel used some of his stories in its "Dogfights" animated series.
​
 
Falcons of France by Nordhof & Hall
Reads like a novel, but by and about people that were there. Good grounding in the background of the Lafayette Flying Corps.
I read it as a kid and about wore out the library copy till I got my own.
Abe Books has it starting as low as $2.50. But, take my advice, if you love the genre, get yourself a good hard cover. Worth a second read.
Second fav is Fighting the Flying Circus, Rickenbacker. Another guy that actually knew the taste of burnt castor oil. Probably around the same price as FoF.
Cheers!
 
You folks might enjoy checking out the STICKY on the original forum. And while you're there .. the STICKY OFF Tips & Cheats has links to a few on-line books :wavey:
 
I'm new here - can you post the link to the orginal forum stick you are referring to? Thanks.
 
Thanks for the list, I can see I will have to make a trip to the bookstore this weekend.
 
DATAFILES have neat 'factoids' in their text besides the obvious
 
“A Flying Fighter”, E.M. Roberts
“An Airman Marches”, Harold Balfour
“Double-Decker C.666”, Haupt Heydemarck
“Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps”, James McCudden
“Heaven High, Hell Deep”, Norman Archibald
“High Adventure”, James Norman Hall
“Letters From a Flying Officer”, Rothsay Stuart Wortlrey
“Memories of World War 1”, William Mitchell
“Night Bombing with the Bedouins”, Robert Reece
“Nocturne Militaire”, Elliot White Springs
“Rovers of the Night Sky”, W.J. ‘Night-Hawk’ Harvey
“The Flying Poilu”, Marcel Nadaud
“Up And At 'Em”, Harold Hartney
“War Birds; Diary of an Unknown Aviator”, Elliot White Springs
“Wind in the Wires”, Duncan Grinnell-Milne
“Winged Warfare”, William Bishop

Some of my other favorites have already been listed, and there are of course many other period pieces, but these are a few that give very good personal insights into the WW1 aviation and combat.

Salute!

Lou
 
"Horses Don't Fly", Frederick Libby. Ran across this a few years back - incredible story. Had never heard of him - American who flew for the RFC. According to the Aerodrome he was "The first American to down five enemy aircraft during World War I", so apparently he was the first American Ace of the war. Very vivid accounts of what it was like to be an observer in an FE2b!! Good writing style, great read, and his first day at the front is worth the price of the book.

Have fun!

Clay
 
Winged Victory by Victor Yeats. It has already been mentioned elsewhere, but I've just finished reading it and found it very involving.
 
Hi Guys,

here are several books that I have and I enjoyed each of them a great deal. (a couple have already been mentioned above).

Australian Air Ace - The Exploits of Jerry Pentland MC, DFC, AFC: by C. Shaedal

First of the Many - Story of the Independant Air Force 1918 (forunner to Bomber Command): by Morris. A.

Offensive Patrol - RNAS, RFC, RAF in Italy 1917-18 and MacMillans Autobiography of his own flying career: by N. MacMillan

Sagittarius Rising - Lewis's Autobiography: by Lewis. C.

Sopwith Scout 7309 - Autobiography of a 66 Squadron Sopwith Pup Pilot France 1917: by Taylor. G. (this book is on a par with Sagittarius Rising but not easy to get and very expensive)

War Birds - Unknown Fighter Pilots diary 1918: by Elliot Springs

Winged Warfare - Bishops Autobiography: by Bishop. W.

regards Rob.
 
'Combat and Command' by Lord Sholto Douglas. You'll see him in RFC 84 squadron. He gives the viewpoint of observer, pilot of two seaters, pilot of fighters and squadron commander. Very good info on patrol areas, life for an airman, fellow pilots and aces, a little of the 'big picture', etc. I found it very enlightening. He was flying in the war from beginning to end.
 
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