Cassell, 2001, $29.95, ISBN 0-304-35850-9, 175 pgs., hardback

This reprint of a 1941 memoir by a Hurricane pilot in the RAF offers a fast-paced, sometimes laconic look at aerial warfare in France from 1939-41. It’s based on Richey’s diary that he kept during the period and provides a pilot’s view of battling the Luftwaffe.

Oddly enough, the prose smooth out as the book continues as choppy passages give way to more narrative, and sometimes novel-like, paragraphs. Successes and failures are recorded matter-of-factly, with doses of barracks-room and gallows humor included with amusing effect.

As the pages fly by, you learn about wartime conditions, personal interactions between British and French, and Richey’s psyche as he pushes his Hurricane into one more dog fight, and himself into one more bar.

A good selection of photos is included to illustrate people and planes.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this first person memoir. It’s a tad pricey at $30, but it is well worth the purchase and read at half or two thirds the price. Put this one on your list of books to read. It’s that good.