'A terrific story, which Hamilton-Paterson tells with tremendous relish, elegance and attention to detail. An acclaimed poet and novelist, he is excellent at capturing the sheer courage of the pilots who ran risks that almost defy credibility' The Sunday Times. 'Hamilton-Paterson's superb book, not only meticulously researched but also supremely readable, tells the tales of many heroes ... he unearths fascinating information, but the book is just as good on the nuts and bolts of flying, and what it was like to engage in a dog fight' Daily Mail. 'An exhilarating book ... by turns, thrilling, joyful, wistful and provocative' Rowland White. 'Hamilton-Paterson's thorough research reveals much - his book is a wide-ranging education of WWI aviation and is written by someone who really knows flying. Highly recommended!' Pilot Magazine. 'Hamilton-Paterson unsparingly exposes the truth of early wartime aviation: of flimsy aircraft and unprotected pilots who had no parachutes' Catholic Herald. 'For its mix of clear-eyed history, myth-busting and gobsmacking derring-do it's hard to beat James Hamilton Patterson's Marked for Death' Nick Curtis, Book of the Year in the Evening Standard. 'Hamilton-Paterson's book soars far above most First World War histories ... Written with beautiful clarity, this book brings alive both the exhilaration of flight and the experience of killing' Sunday Times.

James Hamilton-Paterson is the author of the bestselling EMPIRE OF THE CLOUDS, a classic account of the golden age of British aviation. He won a Whitbread Prize for his first novel, GERONTIUS. He lives in Austria.