King of Airfighters: The Biography of Major Mick Mannock, VC, DSO MC

A penetrating study of Britain’s top fighter ace in the Great War …

Ira Jones’ biography of Britain’s top scoring ace of World War I has become the subject of some controversy over the last few years, most notably as it is the source of the claim of 73 kills for Mannock, thereby making him the number one scoring Allied Ace of the war. Later research has thrown serious doubt on this claim and indeed Mannock himself only claimed 51 kills.

Jones’s biography is nevertheless an important account, especially when seen in the context of the time in which it was first written. In particular the biography delves into the mind of Mannock, portraying the singular nature of his character and the true stress that these pioneer air fighters experienced in the last few months of the war.

Originally published in 1934 by Ivor Nicholson and Watson in London, the book has been reprinted (most recently in the 1990’s by Greenhill Books as part of it’s Vintage Aviation Library) and each time has been reproduced from the original 1930’s version of the book.

This new Casemate edition has been entirely reoriginated. Not a word has been changed, but the original (very dated) type and page layout have been reworked, as has been the format in which the book is presented, to give a beautiful new treatment to this classic of aviation literature.

REVIEWS

a penetrating study of Britain’s top fighter ace in the Great War. Kitmaker Network, 10/2009

.. .A useful documentation of a complex individual… Aviation History, May 2010