Saggitarius Rising (Greenhill Military)

Rating:
Summary: Poetic pilot of yesteryear
Review: Cecil Lewis takes us through world war one as a fighter ace in
the RFC and in particular the famous 56 squadron which hosted such legends as Mannock, Ball, McCudden and Bishop, to name a few.
Although this is an interesting book, I found the story almost
like a Biggles tale with terms like rot and ripping.
Some of the facts are hazy,Lewis says McCudden was shot down and
killed,in fact McCudden died when engine failure caused him to
crash. For devotees of WW1,McCuddens Flying Fury ,is ,in my opinion, a better rendering with a wealth of photographs which
bring a sense of realism somewhat lacking in Sagittarius Rising
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Rating:
Summary: A Fine Read
Review: This is a strongly written and at times quite evocative memoir. It brings this particular aspect of the Great War nearer while acknowledging just how different from the aviators' the trench soldiers' experience was. Highly recommended to readers of Great War literature, as it's really among literary memoirs that this is best read. If you like Sassoon's, you'll likely enjoy Sagittarius Rising.