PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewBruning celebrates a handful of larger-than-life World War II fighter pilots and brings them to our attention once again ... Bruning is at his best when he delves into the pilots’ anguish and obsessions. His telling is based on a dragon’s hoard of primary source material, including well over 1,000 interviews he conducted himself. Though the narrative’s testosterone-fueled slang can sometimes feel exclusionary and even baffling, the noir tone helps to make some of the blow-by-blow accounts of aerial combat a bit easier for the layman to dig into ... Bruning’s work is a testament and a memorial not just to a handful of tragic heroes, but to those left bereft by this unique and explosive competition on the other side of the world.
