A new edition of Cecil Lewis's 1944 aviation classic. Over the course of a single night in 1942, the crew members of a Wellington bomber reflect on the paths of their own lives as they embark on a fateful mission deep in the heart of Nazi Germany. Based on his own experience as a World War I fighter ace, Cecil Lewis's stunning novel examines the life of each man, rendering a moving account of each as not merely a nameless crew member, but as an individual with a life lived: "A life precious to some, or one. . . . These men with dreams and hopes and plans of things to come." This new edition of the 1944 classic includes a new introduction from an Imperial War Museums historian that puts the novel in historical context and shines a light on this vital and sometimes contested aspect of Britain's involvement in World War II.

'This is a book everyone should read. It is the autobiography of an ace, and no common ace either. The boy had all the noble tastes and qualities, love of beauty, soaring imagination, a brilliant endowment of good looks ...this prince of pilots ...had a charmed life in every sense of the word' - George Bernard ShawSent to France with the Royal Flying Corps at just seventeen, and later a member of the famous 56 Squadron, Cecil Lewis was an illustrious and passionate fighter pilot of the First World War, described by Bernard Shaw in 1935 as 'a thinker, a master of words, and a bit of a poet'. In this vivid and spirited account the author evocatively sets his love of the skies and flying against his bitter experience of the horrors of war, as we follow his progress from France and the battlefields of the Somme, to his pioneering defence of London against deadly night time raids.

This is a new release of the original 1928 edition.

1928. Raynal's three act play exposing the futility of The First World War through the eyes of a soldier. The play features three characters; a French soldier, the father and Aude, a girl of twenty.

1928. Raynal's three act play exposing the futility of The First World War through the eyes of a soldier. The play features three characters; a French soldier, the father and Aude, a girl of twenty.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

1928. Raynal's three act play exposing the futility of The First World War through the eyes of a soldier. The play features three characters; a French soldier, the father and Aude, a girl of twenty.

A memoir by a WWI fighter pilot, with the adventurous spirit of "War Horse" and the charm of "The Little Prince"
A singular, lyrical book, "Sagittarius Rising" is at once an exuberant memoir from the Lost Generation and a riveting tale of the early days of flight during World War I. Cecil Lewis lied his way into the British Army's Royal Flying Corps at age sixteen and was ordered to a squadron on the Western Front only a year later. At the time, flying was so new that designers hadn't even decided on basic mechanics such as how many wings a plane should have. Despite this, Lewis mastered virtually every kind of single-engine plane in the RFC, going on to excel in active duty and even to dogfight the Red Baron--and live to tell the tale. Full of infectious charm and written with the prose and pacing of a novel, "Sagittarius Rising" beautifully recounts Lewis's harrowing exploits in the sky alongside his wild times of partying and chasing girls while on leave in London. His coming-of-age story is unlike any other WWI memoir you've read before.