NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The definitive history of combat aviation and fighter aircraft, from World War I to present INCLUDES 32 PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND 12 MAPSLords of the Sky is the “dramatic, fast-paced, and definitive” (Michael Korda) history of fighter pilots and aircraft and their extraordinary influence on modern warfare, masterfully written by “one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force … warfare, masterfully written by “one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history” (New York Post). A twenty-year USAF veteran who flew more than 150 combat missions and received multiple Distinguished Flying Crosses, Lt. Colonel Dan Hampton draws on his singular firsthand knowledge, as well as groundbreaking research in aviation archives and rare personal interviews with little-known heroes, including veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Hampton (the New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot) reveals the stories behind history’s most iconic aircraft and the aviators who piloted them: from the Sopwith Camel and Fokker Triplane to the Mitsubishi Zero, Supermarine Spitfire, German Bf 109, P-51 Mustang, Grumman Hellcat, F-4 Phantom, F-105 Thunderchief, F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, and beyond. In a seamless, sweeping narrative, Lords of the Sky is an extraordinary account of the most famous fighter planes and the brave and daring heroes who made them legend.
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Lords of the Air collects anecdotes and history of fighter pilots through history, beginning with the first armed planes and moving forward through the Gulf Wars.
Each war is handled with a focus specifically on fighter pilots, much of it through first hand accounts from the pilots or recorded first hand from them.
Dan Hampton is a former USAF …
This book could have been much better. The book is titled: “Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat”, but the author devotes far too much time to the ground wars, and leaves off many famous fighter pilots. For example in the Great War (World War I), there is no mention of the accomplishments of Americans Frank Luke and Eddie Rickenbacker, …
An excellently written book. The author provides a good look into the physical and mental traits of several of the top fighter pilots in history and the development of the machines they flew.