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?

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, 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.

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?

This is an encyclopedic work, arranged by broad categories and then by original authors, of literary pastiches in which fictional characters have reappeared in new works after the deaths of the authors that created them. It includes book series that have continued under a deceased writer’s real or pen name, undisguised offshoots issued under the new writer’s name, posthumous collaborations in which a deceased author’s unfinished manuscript is completed by another writer, unauthorized pastiches, and “biographies” of literary characters. The authors and works are entered under the following categories: Action and Adventure, Classics (18th Century and Earlier), Classics (19th Century), Classics (20th Century), Crime and Mystery, Espionage, Fantasy and Horror, Humor, Juveniles (19th Century), Juveniles (20th Century), Poets, Pulps, Romances, Science Fiction and Westerns. Each original author entry includes a short biography, a list of original works, and information on the pastiches based on the author’s characters.

In 1940, the defense of Great Britain rested with a handful of volunteer aircrew, Churchill’s ‘few’. Overshadowed in later folklore by the more famous Spitfire and Hurricane pilots, there were other pilots, observers and air gunners – just as courageous – flying the Bristol Blenheim MKIV-F. The future of the country and arguably that of the free world depended also on their skill, morale and sacrifice. Remarkably little has been chronicled of these men and their aircraft – the ‘Trade Protection’ squadrons formed by Hugh Dowding – allotted to 11 Group in October 1939. The aircraft’s range and endurance made it suitable for defense of coastal shipping against attack on the southern and eastern shores of Britain, and for operations further afield. Indeed during bitter fighting casualties among Numbers 235, 236, 248 and 254 Squadron Blenheims were high on operations over Norway, Holland, France, Dunkirk and then the Battle of Britain where the Blenheims were completely outclassed by Messerschmitt 109 and 110 fighters and fell easy victims, scythed from the sky. But the record of the aircraft and their crew was an immensely proud one. Drawing on contemporary diaries, periodicals, letters, logbooks, memoirs and interviews with survivors, lauded historian Andy Bird reassesses the vital role they played and repositions it in history. In doing so, he justifiably embraces the heroes we have left behind.

For over fifty years James Biggles Worth, D.S.O., D.F.C., M.C., has flown the skies. The mythical ace to end all flying aces, the fearless pilot of everything from Sop with Camels to the earliest jets, he emerged with glory from devilish scrapes all over the world. Yet until now Biggles has often been seen as a storybook caricature. A dashed fine chap, certainly, but not the extraordinary man he really was. Here, for the first time, is an insight into the 'real' man who made these adventures possible. In Biggles, his fictional biography, first published in 1978, John Pearson has unravelled the missing strands in Biggles' life; delving vigorously into subjects that were once taboo. Why did Biggles never marry? What was the truth about his tragic first love? And what were Biggles' real regrets and frustrations as he tried to come to terms with a rapidly developing world in peacetime? The truth - so long hidden behind a stiff upper lip and an equally stiff pink gin in the Officers' Mess - is at last revealed.

Jack McCleery was born in Belfast in 1898, the son of a mill owning family. He joined the RNAS in 1916 as a Probationary Flight Officer. During the next ten months he completed his training at Crystal Palace, Eastchurch, Cranwell, Frieston, Calshot and Isle of Grain, flying more than a dozen landplanes, seaplanes and flying boats, gaining his wings as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant. In July 1917 he was posted to the newly commissioning aircraft carrier HMS Furious, which would be based at Scapa Flow and Rosyth. He served in this ship until February 1919, flying Short 184 seaplanes and then Sopwith 1 Strutters off the deck. He also flew a large number of other types during this time from shore stations at Turnhouse, East Fortune and Donibristle.He served with important and well-known naval airmen including Dunning, Rutland (of Jutland) and Bell Davies VC. He witnessed Dunnings first successful landing on a carrier flying a Sopwith Pup in 1917 and his tragic death a few days later. He also witnessed the Tondern raid in 1918, the worlds first carrier strike mission. He took part in more than a dozen sweeps into the North Sea by elements of the Grand Fleet and Battle Cruiser Fleet. He carried out reconnaissance missions off the coast of Denmark, landing in the sea to be picked up by waiting destroyers. He witnessed the surrender of the High Seas Fleet. Promoted to Captain, he acted as temporary CO of F Squadron for a time postwar.

Out of the corner of his eyes Biggles saw Dick go overboard and disappear under the foam, but he could do nothing to help him. Indeed, as he fought to keep the flying-boat under control, it seemed certain that during the next minute or two the others must join him. Ashen, he looked at Algy. 'Jump when she hits!' he cried, in a shrill, strangled voice, and dived deliberately at the rocks. Biggles, Algy and Ginger help a young lad evade a violent thief and find themselves plunged into a dangerous treasure hunt searching for a long-lost pirate hoard of gold in the Caribbean.

A DANGEROUS MISSION! In a desperate plan to rescue his brother, missing in action and presumed dead, sixteen year-old Peter Fortymore runs away from school to join the air force. Amongst the chaos of the First World War, Peter and his friend manage to enlist and soon find themselves in 266 Squadron under the command of Biggles. Will Biggles rumble the boys' wild plans before they take flight? And if he does, will he come to their aid? Join cult hero and flying ace, Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth on another action packed adventure!

One of a series of Biggles adventures which have been edited for the modern reader. World War II is barely over when Biggles and his team are recruited by Scotland Yard to track down and break up a gang of international murderers and thieves who are making lightning raids from the air.

Adventures with amazing flying machines! SHOT DOWN It's the First World War, and in a desperate game of bluff and counterbluff Biggles is sent to work for the Germans while secretly reporting back to the British. Can he survive the eagle-eyed suspicions of Von Stalhein? How will he cope flying in combat against the British? The slightest mistake could cost Biggles his life . . . Join cult hero and flying ace Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth on another action-packed adventure!

Essays on authors and poets in this volume represent some of the best-known writers of children's literature in the twentieth century. This period is marked by certain characteristics, such as stories of groups of children bonded together, the emergence of strong female protagonists, the "career books", and a consciously subdued presence of pain and suffering. Many of these works are valued for the window they provided upon a culture now gone.

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