No Parachute
A Classic Account of War in the Air in WWI
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Narrated by:
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Chris MacDonnell
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By:
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Arthur Gould Lee
About this listen
This account of the Great War puts you right in the action - from one of the fighter pilots of the Royal Flying Corps.
From the young airmen who took their frail machines high above the trenches of World War I and fought their foes in single combat, there emerged a renowned company of brilliant aces - among them Ball, Bishop, McCudden, Collishaw, and Mannock - whose legendary feats have echoed down half a century. But behind the elite pilots in the Royal Flying Corps, there were many hundreds of airmen who flew their hazardous daily sorties in outdated planes without ever achieving fame.
Here is the story of one of these unknown flyers - a story based on letters written in the day, telling of a young pilot's progress from fledgling to seasoned fighter. His descriptions of air fighting, sometimes against the Richthofen Circus, of breathless dogfights between Sopwith Pup and Albatros, are among the most vivid and immediate to come out of World War I.
Arthur Gould Lee, who rose to the rank of air vice-marshal and also authored the classic Open Cockpit, brilliantly conveys the immediacy of air war, the thrills and the terror, in this honest and timeless account.
©1968 Arthur Gould Lee with the kind permission of David Reed- Felstead; copyright 2013 by Grub Street (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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In 1942, Norman Hanson learned to fly the Royal Navy's newest fighter: the US-built Chance Vought Corsair. Fast, rugged, and demanding to fly, it was an intimidating machine. But in the hands of its young Fleet Air Arm pilots, it also proved to be a lethal weapon. Posted to the South Pacific aboard HMS Illustrious, Hanson and his squadron took the fight to the Japanese. Facing a desperate and determined enemy, Kamikaze attacks, and the ever-present dangers of flying off a pitching carrier deck, death was never far away.
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Absorbing
- By Jean on 11-26-17
By: Norman Hanson
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Red Star Against the Swastika
- The Story of a Soviet Pilot over the Eastern Front
- By: Vasily B. Emelianenko
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the extraordinary story of Vasily B. Emelianenko, the veteran pilot of one of the Soviet Union's most contradictory planes of the Second World War - the I1-2. Having flown 80 combat sorties against the Germans, Emelianenko was awarded the highest decoration - the Hero of the Soviet Union. He went on to complete a total of 92 sorties; his plane was shot down three times; and on each occasion, he managed to pilot the damaged aircraft home. Emelianenko's vivid memoirs provide a rare insight into the reality of fighting over the Eastern Front and the tactics of the Red Army Air Force.
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Solid Soviet WW2 bio
- By Alek on 12-19-18
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Life's Too Short to Cry
- The Compelling Story of a Battle of Britain Ace
- By: Tim Vigors
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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It is not often that a long-hidden gem of a manuscript is published, bringing a moment in WWII history to vivid life for today’s audiences. Geoffrey Wellum’s First Light was one example. The memoir of Timothy Vigors is another. Born in Hatfield but raised in Ireland and educated at Eton and Cranwell, Vigors found himself in France in 1940 flying Fairey Battle bombers. After the Fall he joined the fighters of 222 Squadron, with whom he saw frantic and distinguished service over Dunkirk and persevered through the dangerous days of the Battle of Britain, when he became an ace.
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Excellent
- By Ethan on 03-24-21
By: Tim Vigors
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Malta Spitfire
- The Diary of a Fighter Pilot
- By: George Beurling
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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25,000 feet above Malta -- that is where the Spitfires intercepted the Messerschmitts, Macchis and Reggianes as they swept eastwards in their droves, screening the big Junkers with their bomb loads as they pummeled the island beneath -- the most bombed patch of ground in the world.
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Excellent story!
- By MStewart on 02-01-24
By: George Beurling
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Fighting the Flying Circus
- By: Eddie V. Rickenbacker
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Captain Eddie V. Rickenbacker, originally from Ohio, was best known as one of the commanders of the 94th "Hat-in-the-Ring" Squadron, a crack unit of World War I pilots that included many former members of the famed Lafayette Escadrille. The 94th ended the war in France with the highest number of air victories of any American squadron.
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World War 1 ace
- By Jean on 09-25-12
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Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
- Aviation Classics
- By: Ted W. Lawson
- Narrated by: Douglas R. Pratt
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In Ted W. Lawson’s classic Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, Lawson gives a vivid eyewitness account of the unorthodox assignment that 85 intrepid volunteer airmen - the “Tokyo Raiders” - under the command of celebrated flier James H. Doolittle executed in April 1942. The plan called for 16 B-25 twin-engine medium bombers of the Army Air Corps to take off from the aircraft carrier Hornet, bomb industrial targets in Japan, and land at airfields in China.
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awesome story of a major WWII event
- By 3D RWC on 08-27-20
By: Ted W. Lawson
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Baa Baa Black Sheep
- The True Story of the "Bad Boy" Hero of the Pacific Theatre and His Famous Black Sheep Squadron
- By: Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Here, in his own words, is the true story of America's wildest flying hero, of his extraordinary heroism, and of his greatest battle of all-the fight to survive. The World War II air war in the Pacific needed tough men like Colonel Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. The legendary Marine Corps officer and his bunch of misfits, outcasts, and daredevils gave a new definition to "hell-raising" - on the ground and in the skies.
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Who picked the narrator?
- By D. DAVIS on 08-21-19
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Fighter Group
- The 352nd “Blue-Nosed Bastards” in World War II
- By: Lt. Col. Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Jay A. Stout breaks new ground in World War II history with this gripping account of one of the war’s most highly decorated American fighter groups. Stout combines the storytelling gifts and careful research for a seasoned historian with the combat experience of a former fighter pilot to tell the remarkable story of the 352nd Fighter Group. This isn’t just the story of a single fighter group; it’s the story of how the United States won the air war over Europe.
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This is a fantastic, through, in depth, and personal history of the 352nd fighter group.
- By S. H. Moore on 02-23-21
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Catkiller 3-2
- An Army Pilot Flying for the Marines in the Vietnam War
- By: Raymond G. Caryl
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Catkiller 3-2 provides unique insights into the role of the tactical air controller, airborne (TACA) in I Corps as seen through the eyes of one of the pilots who flew low-flying, unarmed, single-engine aircraft in support of marine ground units during the Vietnam War. When Gen. William Westmoreland changed the marines' role in I Corps into a combat one, the Marines found themselves in need of more fixed wing aircraft to handle the TACA missions.
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Enjoyed this book.
- By David Kocol on 08-23-23
By: Raymond G. Caryl
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Brothers in Arms
- One Legendary Tank Regiment’s Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Al Murray
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the last cavalry units to ride horses into battle, the Sherwood Rangers were transformed into a “mechanized cavalry” of tanks in 1942. After winning acclaim in the North African campaign, they spearheaded one of the D-Day landings in Normandy and became the first British troops to cross into Germany. Their courage, skill, and tenacity contributed mightily to the surrender of Germany in 1945.
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All the details
- By GY on 01-03-22
By: James Holland
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The Mighty Eighth
- The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It
- By: Gerald Astor
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Europe has fallen. Pearl Harbor is in flames. Enter: the Eighth. In 1941 the RAF fought a desperate battle of survival against the Luftwaffe over Britain. Then, from across the Atlantic, came a new generation of American pilots, gunners, and bombardiers, a new generation of flying machines called the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, the P-47 Thunderbolt, and the P-51 Mustang fighter.
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A Good Listen with 1 problem
- By Matthew Schuller on 08-23-19
By: Gerald Astor
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Great admiral!
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No Man’s Land
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Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
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Excellent
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Pierre Clostermann DFC was one of the oustanding Allied aces of the Second World War. A Frenchman who flew with the RAF, he survived over 420 operational sorties, shooting down scores of enemy aircraft while friends and comrades lost their lives in the deadly skies above Europe. The Big Show, his extraordinary account of the war, has been described as the greatest pilot's memoir of WWII.
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Regarded as the standard biography of World War II naval hero Adm. Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make "good copy" for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure.
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Great admiral!
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What listeners say about No Parachute
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lisa R.
- 05-23-24
Tremendous on all levels.
I simply can’t imagine a better Wwi book existing. I loved everything about his story and the day to day nature of it.
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- J.Brock
- 03-14-22
Would give this a 10 all around
Wow. There are no words for this book. The journal/ letters of Arthur Gold Lee puts the reader directly in the cockpit of a WWI pilot. It’s all too real. What these men, boys really, went through defies all believability.
Literally flying without a parachute is just one obstacle that begs how any survived the war. Not many did, and through his writings Lee echoes the futility of it all. Most escaped into alcohol to cope. But regardless the pilots and soldiers become real people struggling with how anyone would feel in such miserable circumstances. Just perfect all around.
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- WRU
- 04-15-21
Informative and engrossing
An unromantic first hand account of flying for the Royal Flying Corp during 1917 to 1918. Detailed ,descriptive and engrossing.
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- Chris
- 12-14-20
Great Detail and Story
It is amazing how frequently Arthur Gould Lee wrote letter and kept diary entries during his time at the front. In simple direct language used at the time and in much more detail that one would expect for his wife to read. It accounts flying the Sopwith Pup before migrating onto the Sopwith Camel. I thoroughly recommend this book if you enjoy WWI aviation.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Margaret Pierce
- 06-16-23
VERY Interesting and Informative
This was a one pilot’s service told through a series of letters he wrote home. This format made the history move fast and stay interested.
The reading was excellent.
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- Sunapee
- 02-02-23
EXCELLENT!
A very stirring account of a pilots experience flying those fragile, yet durable, planes of WWI. What guts they had!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jimmy Ray Purser
- 02-16-23
Excellent book
Upfront and personal look at early air combat. Reading this it is amazing to think how the Wright Brothers first flight was in 1903 to air combat in 1914.
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- Watson H. Rhodes
- 11-29-23
Moving
Using a personal narrative, the author reveals what it was like to be a British pilot in the first world war. The endless missions, the terrible cold, the camaraderie, the toll the constant fighting, constant danger, and constant death brought about in the psyche of the pilots who had to face it, the difficulties faced day to day, the ineptitude of the overall war plan ... it's all here and it unfolds beautifully as the book goes along.
If you want to know what life was like for a WW I ace who managed to survive the war through skill and a great deal of luck, this book is for you.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-08-21
One of the most interesting reads I've ever had.
Fortunate this author and his wife had the foresight to save these letters. His unexaggerated first hand accounts of dog fighting in the WWI era are both immaculately well written and shocking in content. Madness that people were able to do this day in and day out. He doesn't attempt to romanticize or demonize the fighting, his enemies or his allies. He just tells the story.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Paul B.
- 06-09-23
A good memoir
This memoir give a very good feel for what it was like to be a pilot in the WWI. Not just the actual flying, but what it was like on the ground and the constant worrying that one's luck would run out. Definitely recommended.
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