BOOK OF AIRMEN'S OBITUARIES (The Daily Telegraph) - Hardcover

Over the past fifteen years Edward Bishop has written the obituaries of countless men and women who have figured in the story of civil and military aviation - numbers of whom he has known personally and 100 of the most fascinating of which appear here. Ranging from R. E. Bishop who designed the de Havilland Mosquito to Cheshire VC who flew 'the wooden wonder', to Tom Sopwith, the pioneer plane maker to Sir Frank Whittle, the jet engine pioneer, Bishop's obituaries reflect the glories and setbacks of aviation in peace and war.

Amid a host of pilots are Jeffrey Quill, Bob Stanford Tuck, Ginger Lacey, Adolf Galland, Johnnie Johnson, Babe Learoyd, a bomber VC, Freddie West, a 1914-1918 VC and Peter Townsend. Here, too, are Monique Agazarian, an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot who on VE day flew the length of Piccadilly at low level in a Spitfire, and Constance Babington-Smith whose brilliant interpretation of photo-recce results was a byword. Also featured are lesser-known heroes such as Jimmy Wright, the combat aerial cameraman blinded on active service who was to become a famed 'Guinea Pig' and film producer.

Written with wit, insight, compassion and humour, here is a richly unpredictable medley of colorful personalities.