THE CENTURY OF ACES (1915–1988) - Another History of Aviation

Since 1915 and the feat of the Frenchman Adolphe Pégoud, aviation aces are fighter pilots credited with at least five officially confirmed aerial victories.

Who knows that the last of them was the Iranian Assadollah Adeli, in 1988? That in the intervening years, eight thousand pilots of around forty nationalities earned this coveted title, a third of them German? That there were as many Canadian aces as French aces during the two World Wars? That a Finn tops the rankings of the Second World War, Luftwaffe aces aside? That there were more Soviet aces than American aces during the Korean War? That the Vietnam War produced three times more Vietnamese aces than American aces? And that it was two Russians and an Israeli who achieved the highest number of victories at the controls of a modern jet fighter?

This story of men, women and machines transcends the 20thth century. True knights of the sky, the aces dominated the battlefields just as medieval knights had in their time. Through this masterful essay, which deconstructs their myth, the author recounts their epic, highlighting how these heroes were exploited by propaganda and political power. He answers all the questions that both the general public and aviation enthusiasts ask about them. He provides a synthesis of their records across all nations and, for the first time, brings to light valuable information on Israeli, Arab and Iranian aces.