What do you think?
Rate this book
Aces' Twilight: The Air War in the West - 1918
The dawn of a new age of warfare and the men who made history...
Spring 1918: in the skies above the Western Front a new science was taking shape in action. Unheard of only months before, aerial warfare was rapidly coming of age, bringing a new breed of heroes who would transform the face of battle for ever.
Time was running out for the old rulers of the air – the Richthofens, Mannocks and McCuddens who had terrorised the skies unchallenged, secure in their individual genius and daring. New tactics, designs and men were taking to the air, and the newly-formed RAF was introducing a professionalism that would change the course of the war.
This is the story of the men who fought in that fateful year – the men whose bitter struggle was to bring about the aces’ twilight and the dawn of modern warfare.
Robert Jackson was born in 1941 in the North Yorkshire village of Melsonby. A former pilot and navigation instructor, his active involvement with aviation lasted many years. Following his retirement from the RAFVR in 1977 as a squadron leader, he became a full-time aviation writer and aerospace correspondent and lectured extensively on strategic issues. He speaks five languages, including Russian, and has written more than forty nonfiction works on military affairs. He is also the author of the popular Yeoman series.
Spring 1918: in the skies above the Western Front a new science was taking shape in action. Unheard of only months before, aerial warfare was rapidly coming of age, bringing a new breed of heroes who would transform the face of battle for ever.
Time was running out for the old rulers of the air – the Richthofens, Mannocks and McCuddens who had terrorised the skies unchallenged, secure in their individual genius and daring. New tactics, designs and men were taking to the air, and the newly-formed RAF was introducing a professionalism that would change the course of the war.
This is the story of the men who fought in that fateful year – the men whose bitter struggle was to bring about the aces’ twilight and the dawn of modern warfare.
Robert Jackson was born in 1941 in the North Yorkshire village of Melsonby. A former pilot and navigation instructor, his active involvement with aviation lasted many years. Following his retirement from the RAFVR in 1977 as a squadron leader, he became a full-time aviation writer and aerospace correspondent and lectured extensively on strategic issues. He speaks five languages, including Russian, and has written more than forty nonfiction works on military affairs. He is also the author of the popular Yeoman series.
189 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 31, 2018
62 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Robert Jackson
239 books54 followersRobert Jackson was born in 1941 in the North Yorkshire village of Melsonby. A former pilot and navigation instructor, his active involvement with aviation lasted many years. Following his retirement from the RAFVR in 1977 as a squadron leader, he became a full-time aviation writer and aerospace correspondent and lectured extensively on strategic issues. He speaks five languages, including Russian, and has written more than forty nonfiction works on military affairs. He is also the author of the popular Yeoman and SAS fiction series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 6, 2022
Jackson strings together contemporary After Action Reports (AARs) to sketch a picture of air combat over the Wesertn Front in the last year of World War One. The AARS lack context, which is not sufficiently supplied by Jackson. Moreover, the AARs routinely overstate the size of enemy opposition and the success of friendly operations, giving the false sense of notable victories against daunting odds.
June 18, 2025
This book reads more like a Masters or a bad Doctoral Thesis (without the references or footnotes). It’s presented as dry information without much story. I have enjoyed many books over the years about this period in Aviation and history of this part of the War. This may sound harsh but truthfully I consider it the worst book of its type I’ve ever read. I recommend you pass this one by. In Baseball parlance it’s “a swing and a miss!)
April 20, 2021
The final year of WW1 from an airman's perspective.
In the last year of World War One the role of air power began to nature and the various roles undertaken developed into specialities. At this time the RAF was in ascendancy over its German rivals. The book is well researched and carefully edited whilst remaining an enjoyable read.
In the last year of World War One the role of air power began to nature and the various roles undertaken developed into specialities. At this time the RAF was in ascendancy over its German rivals. The book is well researched and carefully edited whilst remaining an enjoyable read.
January 23, 2020
There was a bit too much detail at times in relation to the individual pilots' exploits but overall the account is not too long and it does try to give balance with coverage of both sides of the conflict.
January 9, 2021
Aces’Twilight:The War in the Air 1918
Excellent account and a very good read,hard to put down.Very descriptive and full of action with first hand accounts.Recommended.Thank you.
Excellent account and a very good read,hard to put down.Very descriptive and full of action with first hand accounts.Recommended.Thank you.
December 21, 2019
Well written
A good well written introduction to the last year of the air war on the Western Front, written in an accessible style
A good well written introduction to the last year of the air war on the Western Front, written in an accessible style
February 1, 2021
A description of a completely new way of fighting a war
The Air War has been one of the main interests of my life starting in childhood. I am 93 years old in couple of days time so I was born only ten years after the end the greatest war in human history. It was still fresh in people's minds, especially the development of the aeroplane. It was new to everyone and the way these new fangled flyers came to bevome
The Air War has been one of the main interests of my life starting in childhood. I am 93 years old in couple of days time so I was born only ten years after the end the greatest war in human history. It was still fresh in people's minds, especially the development of the aeroplane. It was new to everyone and the way these new fangled flyers came to bevome
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews