DING HAO! The Fabulous Epic of the Flying Tigers

The Flying Tigers are legendary. Yet their true history is poorly known to the general public, and the most implausible rumours circulate about them, particularly in Europe.

In 1967, aged just eight years old, the author became passionate about these aviators, their exploits, their aircraft, their battles. He never ceased researching the subject, and the ambition to dedicate a detailed and comprehensive work to them never left him. Invited to the annual reunion of the American Volunteer Group in 1987, he had the honour of interviewing several former pilots. Over the course of his life, Luc Vangansbeke patiently gathered specialised works, testimonies and other documents relating to the "Flying Tigers" and their commanding officer, General Claire Lee Chennault. Epistolary exchanges with American specialists on the unit continually led him to deepen his research.

Today, Luc Vangansbeke has completed his life's work. With this volume, he delivers a rich and precise study, tracing one by one the histories of all the major combat units and air squadrons that bore the name Flying Tigers, or flew under the winged tiger insignia. Reading this book — the work of a lifetime — will reveal that the "Flying Tigers" were not limited to a handful of Curtiss P-40s adorned with a shark's mouth, flown by a band of adventurers and mercenaries, among them Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.