This is the first of the excellent 'Battleground Europe' books to be devoted, as the name says, to the Air War. It takes the Salient in a series of detailed tours around the various Airfields, showing where and how to find them today, and continuing with thumbnail sketches of the famous on both sides, who fought, and often died, from them, including where known, their graves. There are comprehensive maps and many original photographs, of how they were and how they are, as well as a useful Index.

Airfields in the Great War were ephemeral things; the Battlefields, blockhouses and trenches are often still recognisably there, but the aerodromes have reverted to the fields they originally were. There is also a paucity of Memorials to the RFC on the Western Front. So this book which is both a fine read at home, and an indispensable companion on the spot, is very welcome and long overdue.

The author is shortly producing a companion volume on The Somme - look out for it.