Flames in the Sky

By: Pierre Clostermann

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

From near-suicidal RAF attacks in 1940 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".

Flames in the Sky is packed with dramatic aerial action, including the Battle of France, the attack on Pearl Harbor, last stand on the Bataan Peninsula, Operation Vengeance: the assassination of Admiral Yamamoto, and the Messerschmitt 262 and the dawn of the jet age.

©2008 Flammarion (P)2021 Tantor

Don't overlook this one!

Clostermann's THE BIG SHOW is a great WW2 aviation memoir. FLAMES IN THE SKY is much less well-known and follows a different format, but it's a fascinating, largely overlooked book.

Clostermann picks a few historical situations, most of which listeners won't recognize. He then describes how that situation fits into the overall war and then describes the mission from the perspective of a pilot on the mission. Each mission is in a completely different plane. For example, he describes a raid in Norway from the perspective of a French Mosquito pilot. Another mission is George Beurling's first Spitfire mission on Malta.

Each mission is described from a pilot's perspective, and Clostermann's experience as a fighter pilot and his skill as a writer really keep the stories moving.

Some say there is too much introductory material to each story before the flying, but I found it quite interesting. And it sets up each story.

It's also fascinating to see Clostermann's thoughts from 1948 (49?) when this was written and how feelings about particular aircraft have evolved since then (he seems not to be a fan of P-38s).

My only disappointment with this book is that it's too short. I can tell it took a lot of work to write, but I would have loved more stories. But, with that one shortcoming, I definitely felt this was an interesting listen and time well spent.