THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN THE AIR...MANNOCK, McCUDDEN, VON RICHTHOFEN, UDET...TRUE STORIES OF THE GREATEST ACES At the beginning of World War I the military potential of the airplane was completely unknown....THE ACES tells the stories of the hardy men who converted the skies over France and Germany into a modern jousting field. "The general aim of this book is twofold: to uncover the personalities of the men called 'aces', and to show the reader the actual birth of courage and tenacity in wartime airpower, a heritage now shared equally by the air forces of the world."—Frederick Oughton, Introduction