Bert Stiles (1920-1944) was an American author of short stories who was killed in action during World War II while serving as a fighter pilot in the US Army Air Forces.His mother commemorated his memory by having his book published in 1947 in England (Lindsay Drummond Ltd.), with its first U.S. publication in 1952 (W.W. Norton & Company). Entitled Serenade to the Big Bird, the book achieved cult status among aviation enthusiasts for its honest depictions of bomber ...

After completing a tour of duty (thirty-five missions) in B-17s, Bert Stiles transferred to a fighter squadron. Just four months later he was killed in action on an escort mission to Hanover, Germany, on November 26, 1944, at the age of 23. Serenade to the Big Bird achieved cult status among aviation enthusiasts for its honest depictions of bomber combat and also won favorable literary reviews for its spare, Hemingway-style prose and its anti-war sensitivity.

After completing a tour of duty (thirty-five missions) in B-17s, Bert Stiles transferred to a fighter squadron. Just four months later he was killed in action on an escort mission to Hanover, Germany, on November 26, 1944. Stiles' book was written in the period between his two tours. Serenade to the Big Bird portrays the tragedy of war, and specifically the loss to the world of a fine, sensitive, talented writer who had only a short time to prove his merit. He died at twenty-three.

Second lieutenant Dick Curtis arrived in Italy in May 1944–twenty years old and part of a shipment of P-51 Mustang fighter pilots so desperately needed that they were rushed into combat with less than thirty hours of flight time in their new high-performance aircraft.Six of the twelve pilots assigned to the 52nd Fighter Group were shot down in the first two weeks. By his ninth mission, Curtis was the only one still flying. A maverick, he barely escaped court-martial with his high-f...

Fighter Pilot is the memoir of legendary ace American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force, Robin Olds.Robin Olds was a larger-than-life hero with a towering personality. A graduate of West Point and an inductee in the National College Football Hall of Fame for his All-American performance for Army, Olds was one of the toughest college football players at the time. In WWII, Olds quickly became a top fighter pilot and squadron commander b...

MUSTANG ACE: Memoirs of a P-51 Fighter Pilot by Robert J. Goebel + Easygoing and quick to learn, young Bob Goebel worked his way steadily through the phases of military flight training, and found in himself an aptitude for flight. Following months of rigorous operational flying in Panama, Goebel and his young companions found themselves in North Africa in the spring of 1944 with orders to the 31st Fighter Group in Italy. Just as the novices were about to join, the 31st traded its British-m...

The Hawker Typhoon despite numerous technical flaws, was the finest ground support aircraft in Europe during World War II. At the same time the stories of the brave men who flew this difficult aircraft remain untold and unacknowledged. From his enlistment in Toronto through the final flights over Germany, this is the memoir of Jack Hilton, an RCAF fighter pilot, who successfully flew this challenging aircraft.

**A classic from the New York Times bestselling author of The Things They Carried"One of the best, most disturbing, and most powerful books about the shame that was / is Vietnam."—Minneapolis Star and Tribune**Before writing his award-winning Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien gave us this intensely personal account of his year as a foot soldier in Vietnam. The author takes us with him to experience combat from behind an infantryman...

The truth about the battle that came to define our Vietnam War - from the men who were there.18th August, 1966. 1pm…D Company entered the plantation. They thought that, if they were lucky, they were closing in on perhaps 30 or 40 VC. They were horribly wrong.Over twelve long, bloody and brutal hours, 105 Australian soldiers and three New Zealanders fought off mortar attacks and heavy machine-gun fire, unaware they were facing up to 2500 Viet Cong a...

"A compelling account of the air war against Germany" written by the navigator portrayed by Anthony Boyle in Apple TV's Masters of the Air ( Publishers Weekly).They began operations out of England in the spring of '43. They flew their Flying Fortresses almost daily against strategic targets in Europe in the name of freedom. Their astonishing courage and appalling losses earned them the name that resounds in the annals of aerial warfare and made th...

A paratrooper's memoir of survival and close-quarters combat in WWII: "Well worth reading" ( Flight Journal).When Dwayne Burns turned eighteen, he decided he wanted to fight alongside America's best. He joined the paratroopers and was assigned to the 508th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Little did he suspect that a year later he'd be soaring in a flak-riddled C-47 over Normandy, part of the very spearhead of the Allied drive to s...

As the Battle of Britain looms, Hope Flies on Eagle's WingsFrom Master of Alternate History Harry TurtledoveAs Britain faces the full fury of the Nazi war machine, hope comes in the form of American volunteers called the Eagle Squadrons. As these units join their RAF cousins during the Battle of Britain, famous woman aviator Amelia Earhart (who survived her world-circling flight) emerges as a rallying point for those willing to stand against fascism.