title: Cavalry of the Air: An Illustrated Introduction to the Aircraft and Aces of the First World War
author: Norman S. Leach
description: This timely book provides an excellent view of aviation during World War I. (<i>Historical Society of Alberta newsletter</i> 2015-01-01)
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00245.jpeg)
  
  > ‘Every man who went aloft was marked for death, sooner or later, once his
  > wheels had left the ground.’
  
  > —Anthony Fokker
  
   **CONTENTS**
  
  ![](Images/image00246.jpeg)
  
  > > Introduction
  
  > 1 Air War and the State
  
  > 2 Why Biplanes?
  
  > 3 Armed to the Teeth
  
  > 4 Combat and Other Missions
  
  > 5 The Making of a Flying Man
  
  > 6 How they lived
  
  > 7 Aces
  
  > 8 Airmen and Medics
  
  > 9 Parachutes and Fatalism
  
  > 10 Home Defence
  
  > 11 Balkans and Mesopotamia
  
  > 12 Postscript
  
  > > Chronology of the First Air War
  
  > > Note on the Classification of Aircraft Types
  
  > > Glossary
  
  > > Acknowledgments
  
  > > Bibliography
  
  > > Endnotes
  
  > > List of Illustrations
  
  > > Illustrations
  
  > > Index
  
  To Chris Royle, with grateful thanks
  
  AUTHOR’S NOTE
  
  There are several scholarly histories of the Royal Flying Corps and the first
  war in the air, all of which treat the subject chronologically. I have chosen
  a less exhaustive approach by means of chapters dealing with aspects that
  particu