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Title: War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator (Military History Ser. 6) by John Macgavock Grider, Elliott White Springs, Clayton Knight ISBN: 1-58544-087-6 Publisher: Texas A&M University Press Pub. Date: December, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Popular and Not Popular -- War in the Air WWI
Comment: The Diary of Lt John M Grider, KIA in France, 1918, as amended and edited by his friend E.W. Springs. Springs believed it would add to the value of the book if he kept it anonymous and mysterious. The book was serialized in a popular magazine in 1926 and created a scandal because it depicts the American boys as womanizers, drinkers, etc. (the racist attitudes of the flyers caused no comment at the time). Later Griders sisters forced Springs to admit that the book was based on their brothers diary, although apparently Springs also included considerable material from his own letters home. Springs was a Princeton graduate from a wealthy family. He was a top pilot and received the DFC, shooting down 5 enemy planes. He wrote some other books but none as popular as this one. This book is gritty and tough, and depicts very well the descent from idealistic recruit to hardened and battle weary veteran.

Rating: 4
Summary: War Birds review
Comment: War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator is a fascinating portrait of training and combat for a WWI aviator. It is unclear to me whether the book consists of an actual diary, or is a dramatization written by a friend based on letters written by the aviator main character (see http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/springs.html). The aviator was a real person with real faults (he makes some racist statements), and this makes the story all the more personal. The story reminded me of Catch-22, but is more touching because the triumphs and deaths actually occurred.

Rating: 5
Summary: The truth about the Air War of WWI
Comment: Although little is written of the truth to the Air War in WWI, it is often offered to history as a time of chivalry amoungst the "Upper Class Gentleman" of WWI. Most sucessful pilots, that being anymore that 5 kills, were showered with metals and given the highest honors from their fatherlands. Deeming them, The Knights of The Skies. The truth is far from reality. This book of one young man's personal, daily recolection in it's original, unaltered text, depicts the Air War as it really was. Not only can you feel the excitement and astonishment in his mind as he earns his wings in flight school, you also experience the sadness and despair as he watches his squadmates perish and learns the veracity of war and death. Illustrated by Clayton Knight, whose sketches and paintings went on to become famous after the war, this book is a must for anyone who is interested in the true reality of The Air War of WWI.

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