THE CANVAS FALCONS: The Story of the Men and the Planes of World War I

by Stephen Longstreet ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 25, 1970

The men rather than the planes, since most of Mr. Longstreet's re-run (an old enthusiasm; he's been planning to write the book for 25 years) concentrates on the daring young men who became ""Fokker Fodder."" Indeed most of the planes they flew were Fokkers, at the start not much more than motorized kites. There are short profiles of all the aces; Max Immelmann, the first German; yon Richthofen, the most legendary, and perhaps the unknown (except to historians) Boelcke as the greatest. America had its Rickenbacker, the French four of lesser stature, Belgium a great balloon killer; etc., etc. The wingspread is fairly wide and Longstreet has, in a more or less organized fashion, worked in contemporary material, memoirs, and parts of the book of one ""Windstaff"" he would like to see published in its entirety. There is also a certain indiscriminate supercargo: he refers twice in short succession to the long distance affair between Shaw and Ellen Terry which seems wide of the target to begin with. Nothing very alluring except for the congenital devotee -- and spotty notes, no index.

Pub Date: Nov. 25, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION