Ruth Dunbar
An uncompromising anti-war view of the First World WarThis book, first published in 1919, is indisputably a novel. However, while this fact is made very clear on the title page of the original edition, it is coupled with the tantalising information that the incidents related in these pages and the character of the book’s protagonist, the Texan Richard Byrd, are factual. Furthermore, the inspiration for Byrd was a member of the French Foreign Legion who became pilot in the legendary Lafayette Escadrille. So this volume is what we now call ’faction,’ and because there is a dearth of material concerning the First World War in the air-to provide for the ongoing interest in the activities of the famous Lafayette Escadrille in particular-the Leonaur Editors believe it is appropriate to include it in our Aviation series so that readers can enjoy both the ’story’ and the narration of real life events about a time when heroic military aviators really were ’the few.’Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.
