This accessible text covers the all of the major First World War battles, from Bloody April 1917, when the squadrons suffered enormous casualties, through Third Ypres and Passchendaele to the chaotic retreat from Ludendorff's offensive. Drawing extensively from letters and diaries of the men who took part, Ralph Barker creates a bird's eye view of the battleground from the menacing skies above France and brings fresh off the page the exhiliration of combat, the debility of the "shakes", the grit of observers and gunners, the strain of low-level flying, the bonding of pilot and ground mechanic, and the awareness of tragedy as brave men gave their lives.