Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16 Paperback – June 2, 2015

When I first began this book, I thought I could see how it was going to unfold... in this case, that was a good thing; explaining the primitive state of early aviation and how it progressed, plus the most welcome extra context of what was happening on the ground and how it drove and shaped what was happening in the air. Excellent touch.As it entered WWII, the author began to give much more information regarding the ground war and its machinations. I was fine with that, it's a great way of providing perspective. Except, and with great respect to the author, I feel he lost the plot here as he proceeded to go on and on and on about it, entirely shifting emphasis from aviation to land warfare. This was space that would've been far been dedicated to aircraft development and Flying. To be fair, the author's flying sequences are absolutely superb... I felt I was in the cockpit.In natural progression, we moved to the Korean War, then Viet Nam, then the middle east and wrapping up with Iraq rounds 1 & 2. One glaring omission, I thought, was not covering the introduction of stealth technology (especially considering the amount of information he gives regarding the development and refinement of radar). I'm aware that the F-117 was merely called a "fighter" even though it was unarmed and its mission was strictly air-to-ground, but it still should have been mentioned considering its impact on aerial warfare.I really did enjoy this book. After I realized that the author was wont to go off on tangents here and there, I just gave up on my preconceptions and went with the flow. Certainly, it was all nevertheless informative and very readable. I undoubtedly learned many things I was previously unaware of and I'd consider myself a fair student on the subjects herein.It's a pity I couldn't sit down with the author over a beer or two and ask him about a lot of things I found odd which he'd left out. It is a compliment that the greatest criticism I offer is that it's not long enough!Still, I'm most grateful for the book and unreservedly give it my recommendation. Thank you, Mr. Hampton.

This is a history of fighters and fighter pilots over the past 100 years, as fighter pilots initiated with the start of WWI in 1914. There are some very good parts of this book, and in fact in some instances, excellent and there are some parts of this book are not so good. The very good and excellent parts of the good are those were the author provides the experiences of former pilots. Since he was a fighter pilot himself, he does an excellent job of relating this.The book is written in three major sections: World War I, World War II and the Jet Age. The review will cover each section and pluses and minuses of each.The World War I section is very good. The author does an excellent job of covering the main fighter aces of the period and their experiences. He also provides good strategic context behind the air battles. In fact, this is the best relating of the fighter pilots experiences of this period that I've read mainly because, I guess, because the author is a pilot himself and can relate to the horrors that these men experienced.The World War II section has its good points and not very good points. In some sections, the author covers a great ace of this period and does an excellent job. One example is Jochen Marseilles, who was a fighter pilot in the North Africa campaign. The author also provides individual experiences of fighter pilots. One example is Robin Olds experience shooting down a German jet in late 1944. However, a couple of chapters are inadequate. There is almost no coverage of fighter pilots in the Pacific (and this is in spite of the fact that the cover shows a Corsair from the Pacific.) Also, the coverage of fighter pilots over Europe during the late war is inadequate. Maybe this is so because so much has been written on this that he didn't feel that he could much. However, instead, the author covers the strategic aspects of the war in these sections with very little of no coverage of fighter pilots. This is misfortunate. Maybe he should have selected one fighter pilot in each sector and used him to provide the experiences.The last section on the Jet Age is excellent. The author especially excellent coverage of anti-SAM fighter pilots - the "Wild Weasels" - over time, probably mainly because that was his area of focus as pilot. This coverage is from start during the Vietnam War through the recent wars in Iraq.Although the book is somewhat uneven in its coverage of fighter pilots, it is still recommended, but there are many excellent excerpts where a fighter pilot relates what it was to be a fighter pilot over the past 100 years.

I rated this book five stars because it's a great read. As a history buff and military aviation enthusiast, it was well researched and written in my opinion. Mr. Hampton offered a nice balance of data and facts mixed with the stories of well known aviators who made combat aviation history and contributed to the advance tactics and technology. This approach keeps the book moving and the reader engaged. While troubling and "shameful", as Dan Hampton points out, it was interesting to learn a couple of things about WW2 that I was not aware of before reading this book (pgs. 355 and 359).

When I was four years old in 1961, the Civil War was one hundred years in the past. Today, World War I is a century in the past. Hard to believe mankind has been flying for over a hundred years. From the standpoint of fighter air combat, Dan Hampton has done a masterful job of taking us through that particular march of progress. Meticulous research. Good sense of purpose and thesis. Very entertaining examination of some of history's better- and lesser known fighter pilots. I particularly enjoyed the section on one of my personal favorites, Germany's grinning, raffish killer, Hans-Joachim Marseilles. Students of military aviation will enjoy this book, as will those casually interested. Dan does non-fiction and fiction equally well, to my way of thinking.

Muito bom. Recomendo a todos is que tem interesse na aviacao e em sua historia especialmente militar.O autor alem de excelente tem vivencia no controle de um caca

Packed full of useful information, interviews, recollctions and descriptions of air battles and operations since 1915. A must for every military aviation enthusiast.

Don't expect an in depth study of the history of air combat.This book is for the casual reader, not for die hard of air combat.There are some mistakes here and there … the FW190 armed with two 12,7mm machine guns? C'mon ...

A very good book

A must have for any air combat enthusiasts. Also at a bargain price thanks to Amazon