Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke, America's Rogue Ace of World War I
This painstaking biography of World War I ace Frank Luke will earn Pardoe kudos, even if some readers may prefer fewer romantic references to pilots flying into the sunset than Pardoe affords. Pardoe, however, has flown a very straight course in researching and recounting Luke’s myth-ridden life. Born to a respectable family in Phoenix, Luke certainly had a wild streak but was also a natural pilot. His combat career was short—basically, the autumn of 1918—but he ran up a score of 14 German balloons (more dangerous targets than German planes) and four enemy fighters before being shot down and killed by German ground guns defending a descending balloon. Thorough annotation makes the book that much more valuable to WWI aviation scholars as well as for more casual air-combat buffs. --Roland Green