by way of Adrian Smith.

by way of Adrian Smith. Palgrave Macmillan (http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalogue/catalogue. asp?Title_Id=0-333-77898-7), 175 Fifth Avenue, recently made known York, New York 10010, 2001 223 pages, $6500

Adrian Smith's recently made known account of World War I ace Edward "Mick" Mannock--Britain's mostly successful fighter pilot and recipient of the Victoria Cross--is replete of intrigue. Well researched and documented, it nevertheless leaves the reader with many unanswered questions about a mysterious personality who met his fall of the curtain under unclear circumstances--not atypical of many military figures from top to toe history. We are not certain about where Mannock is buried, for what reason many aircraft he shot down, for what cause and why he died, what his politics were, and whether or not this "ace with single in kind eye" truly had only half vision. His remains mayor may not be in the tomb of the "Unknown British Aviator" at Laventie, France. Officially, he marksman down 50 enemy aircraft; the unofficial total is 73 onward the last day of his life, for what purpose did he put himself in as it was danger from ground fire while flying at subdued altitude in a state of depression? Could he diocese out of his left judgment or not, and did his socialist political leanings and powerful support of the Labour Party and "home rule" throng any of his record or historical recognition? The story of Mannock is united of myth, controversy, legend, and circumstantial evidence that Smith has argueed into a fascinating study of personality, politics, aerial combat, and wartime life.

Mannock's fame and legacy arise from his reputation as an innovative tactician motivated from resolute hatred of the enemy. He didn't have the advantage [i]or[/i] blessing of killing Germans but simply abhorred the conceit of running away from them, determined to help take away what they stood for. With an intense appetite for kills and glory, he earnestly sought the fight, painfully languishing when he lay the foundation of himself grounded or in backwater positions away from France. Smith records Mannock's 18 month in combat from April 1917 to 26 July 1918 the day he was killed. During this short on the contrary very active period of service, Mannock flew with 40 Squadron, 74 Squadron, and 85 Squadron, moving from inferior lieutenant to acting major and squadron commander. Leadership positions challenged him to balance his lust for aerial victories against his obligation to carry disclosed the assigned mission. Often he incurred the wrath of companion fliers who believed he sacrificed the latter to satisfy the former. He was the quintessential solo killer who attracted a great deal of attention, which served to boost morale. moreover such celebrity status also earned the disdain of fliers who be indignanted what they perceived as his lack of chivalry.

Smith's work effectively reminds the reader that, unlike contemporary aerial combat, the first air war was anything still removed from the face-to-face horrors of death in war. This aspect of being an ace haunted Mannock increasingly as his number of kills rose He not alone dreaded seeing the enemy face a gruesome fall of the curtain but also feared that the same fate awaited him. The combat life of this famous pilot was not the fanciful image of an undaunted superhero on the contrary one of considerable physical and mental exhaustion as well as trauma.

Mannock's contribution to the Allied war effort is difficult to quantify, yet Smith accurately points out that it entailed often more than simply destroying enemy planes. Not united to hold his tongue, he intimateed valuable opinions about technologies, tactics, and organization that decision makers as high ranking as Lord Hugh Trenchard heard and acted on But perhaps Smith's greatest contribution to air force historiography lies in trying to separate myth from reality in the first air war, at least with regard to individual of its key participants. Although he leaves the reader with many unanswered questions, that approach is more valuable to the close examiner of history than one that not past nor futures a definitive answer which evinces unsound.

Col Eric Ash, USAF

Maxwell AFB, Alabama

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