Adventures with amazing flying machines! SPECIAL MISSION It's the First World War and Biggles is just 17. The planes are primitive; combat tactics are non-existent; the only form of communication for pilots and their gunners is by hand signals. They are reliant on the skill of their fellow crew, their wit and, above all else, bravery. In hostile enemy skies, where instinct and fast reactions are everything, Biggles must learn to be a real fighter pilot, or die...but does he have what it takes?

Biggles, and his three friends, Algy, Bertie and Ginger are household names worldwide. In this collection of three of his finest stories, the reader can enjoy the story of how Biggles first learnt to fly, in the war-torn skies above France; of his first encounter with his evil arch enemy, Von Stalhein, and of how he tackled a deadly peril threatening the air routes between China and India in the Second World War.

The book provides a series of short stories showing how Biggles learnt to fly and then honed those flying skills in a series of adventures and scrapes. It also provides a fascinating look at how the air conflict was waged during the First World War.

BIGGLES LEARNS TO FLY Age just seventeen and with almost no flying experience, James Bigglesworth is sent to tackle the enemy in the hostile skies over First World War France. In a drama of war, where instinct and fast reactions are everything, Biggles must learn to be a real fighter pilot, or die...but does he have what it takes? BIGGLES THE CAMELS ARE COMING Fighting high above the trenches of First World War France Biggles knows he needs more than just flying skills to survive against the Sopwith Camel – a demon to fly, but incredibly fast in a dogfight, it commands fierce loyalty from its pilot. Will Biggles’ luck and initiative be enough to keep him alive?

Contains updated and revised sketches on nearly 800 of the most widely read authors and illustrators appearing in Gale's Something about the author series.

In the early days of the First World War, Lord Kitchener made his famous appeal for volunteers to join the New Army. Men flocked to recruiting offices to enlist, and on some days tens of thousands of potential soldiers responded to his call. Men had to be at least eighteen years old to join up, and nineteen to serve overseas, but in the flurry of activity many younger boys came to enlist: some were only thirteen or fourteen. Many were turned away, but a lot were illegally conscripted, and as many as 250,000 underage boys found themselves fighting for King and Country in the First World War. Over half would never return home. In this groundbreaking new book, John Oakes - whose own father-in-law walked out of the Welsh valleys to join the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen - delves into the complex history of Britain's youngest Great War recruits. Focusing on the recruitment crisis of 1914, he reveals why boys joined up, what their experiences were and how they survived to endure a lifetime of memories. For those who didn't, an unknown grave awaited, and in some cases their mothers never knew what had become of their children.

This work contains annotated listings of books in French, German and Italian as well as a greatly expanded section of books in English covering the period from 1914 to 1994, which includes privately printed books and limited editions