It was Christmas 1942 when eleven young women boarded the troopship Strathaird and braved the attentions of U-Boats in the deep Atlantic. Borrowing a cricketing phrase, they called themselves the First Eleven. But they were not the first to arrive at the Special Operations Executive's secret North African base near Algiers. Code-named Massingham, it was formed by SOE to spearhead subversion and sabotage in what Winston Churchill called 'the soft underbelly' of Europe. Massingham was hidden away at the Club des Pins, a former luxury resort nestling among pines next to a Mediterranean beach. By the time SOE had got to work, there was little luxury left. Setting the Med Ablaze tells the true stories of the men and women of Churchill's secret base. Its life was short. Less than two years after its formation, its job was done. But Massingham played a key role in the Allied offensive in the Mediterranean islands, Italy and France. If you enjoy historical nonfiction, this book is for you.

It was early Cold War days when 17-year-old David Eagles applied to the Fleet Air Arm hoping to be a fighter pilot for his national service. He little imagined the career that would follow. After flying training with the US Navy and Australian Fleet Air Arm, he settled into Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot life. He progressed through Naval Test Pilot duties - where he was forced to eject from a Buccaneer during catapult launch trials - before joining British Aerospace and playing a major part in the cockpit design and flight-testing of the RAF's first fly-by-wire and swing-wing aircraft, the Panavia Tornado. His other experiences include ditching a Firefly into the sea and the near loss of the first British Tornado prototype after a bird strike. Finally, after 6,000 flying hours in sixty different types of aircraft, Eagles finished his career by making the first flight of the EAP, the technology demonstrator for the new Eurofighter Typhoon. Vividly illustrated with photographs, documents and plans, this is a fascinating memoir of naval-flying and test-flying some of the world's most iconic fighters.

'IF YOU ENJOYED THE BIG SHOW YOU WILL LOVE FLAMES IN THE SKY. THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY BOOK. UNPUTDOWNABLE.' Rowland White From near suicidal RAF attacks in 1939 through to the dawn of the jet age in 1945, FLAMES IN THE SKY captures the astonishing drama, intensity, heroism and incomparable exhilaration of the World War Two air war like no other book. This epic global struggle between Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustangs, Mosquitos, Messerschmitts, Zeros, Kamikazes and more is brought vividly to life by a writer who was himself in the thick of the action. Pierre Clostermann was one of the outstanding Allied Aces of the Second World War, shooting down scores of enemy aircraft, while friends and comrades lost their lives in the deadly skies above Europe. FLAMES IN THE SKY was born of his desire 'to do justice to their courage'.