United Kingdom. Aces High - A Tribute To The Most Notable Fighter Pilots Of The British And Commonwealth Forces In Wwii, Second Edition

Hardcover, cerulean blue cloth cover, with dust jacket, entitled "Aces High - A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII" by Christopher Shores and Clive Williams, published by Grub Street of London, typeset by Pearl Graphics of Hemel Hempstead, printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd., Guildford and King;s Lynn, First Edition originally published in 1966, Second Edition updated and re-published in 1994, copyrighted in 1994, ISBN 1-898697-00-0. This book opens with the Contents, Acknowledgements and Authors' Special Note, followed by a Foreword to the Original Edition by Robert Stanford-Tuck, RAF Retd, Eastry, Kent, 7th December 1965, and a Foreword to the New Edition by Air Vice-Marshal J.E. 'Johnnie' Johnson, CB, CBE, DSO**, DFC**, July 1994. It has six chapters: Chapter One: Authors' Introduction to the New Edition; Chapter Two: Fighter Operations During the War; Chapter Three: The Tools of the Trade; Chapter Four: The Squadrons / The Biographical Lists Explained; Chapter Five: The Aces - Biographical and Claim Notes / Fighter Pilots Claiming Four Victories; Chapter Six: "Diver" - The V-1 Aces. A synopsis of the book on the dust jacket states: "The original 'Aces High' was published in 1966, quickly went out of print, and duly became a collector's item. It was an authoritative work but the authors always intended to update and amend it in time. Now, after nearly 30 years this new edition contains the fruits of the vast amount of further research on the pilots, units and campaigns of the Second World War undertaken by Christopher Shores and Clive Williams since then. Drawing on official records, personal log books and diaries, and information gleaned from a host of interviews, this book deals now not just with the fighter "ace" as traditionally understood, but with virtually all the notable exponents of the art of aerial combat. Some had brief, meteoric careers whilst others served for long periods, often in a variety of units and areas. Some were highly decorated, others were gone before they had received any formal recognition. Here are the great leaders and the great individualists, the career men from Cranwell and the short service volunteers. Here too are the Free Europeans, who escaped when their own countries were occupied, to fight on with the RAF. A few indeed were to claim victories with two, three of even four different forces! Included too - and in great profusion - are the men from the Dominions of what was then both Commonwealth and Empire. Details are given of those, predominantly Canadians, who went to gain further success in later wars over Israel and Korea, together with those who rallied to the Allied cause before their own countries were at war; notably these were US citizens, but others came even from Iceland. The passage of time has meant that in many cases a synopsis can be provided of the whole career of many of those included, not a few of whom achieved much in the postwar years that followed. Nearly 1200 brief biographies cover pilots from all parts of the UK, and some 16 other nations. As in the first edition, details of the squadron, the aircraft, and ancillary listings are also provided, but the combat claims have been almost completely re-researched, revised, re-written and re-formatted for clarity. A tremendous selection of photographs from hitherto private collections makes this the essential reference book for any historian of the Second World War." The book contains 672 pages, weighing 1.5 kilograms, printed in black ink, on a white paper stock, with sixty-four pages of black and white plates inserted in groups of sixteen in four locations, between pages 156-157, 284-285, 412-413, 540-541, printed in black ink on a coated white paper stock, measuring 180 mm (w) x 253 mm (h) x 57 mm (d). Extremely fine.

Footnote: Christopher Shores and Clive Williams produced their first book together, the original 'Aces High', in 1966. After serving in the RAF in the 1950s, Christopher Shores became a Chartered Surveyor, a profession in which he gained some thirty-five years experience. He later became a Director in one of the largest firms of property advisors in Europe, travelling widely, blessed with good writing and speaking skills. After his involvement in the original 'Aces High', Clive Williams turned to the Open University, working for and obtaining an Honours Degree in History. A purchasing officer by profession, he became for many years Chief Purchasing Officer to Berni Inns. He later took a partial retirement, in order to concentrate on publishing and historical research, rejoining his co-author, Shores, to produce this updated edition.

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