The Iron Ace William E Barrett 9780982095058 Books
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In the misty skies of WWI France, history was written with flaming guns! And Yank airman Hugh McQuillen had smashed his way into those history books as "The Iron Ace." Assigned as the C.O. of a Royal Flying Corps squadron, and prowling the skies in his deadly war plane adorned with the Laughing Skull, he was a grim and unrelenting instrument of war who killed Germans with such ruthless efficiency that he became known on both sides of the line as "The Assassin." McQuillen believed there was no way to decently bring men to a violent end, so he would not bow to the "chivalry of the air" practiced by his R.F.C. mates and the Germans. This made the Iron Ace many enemies, and those enemies would stop at nothing to bring an end to his savage reign. Written by William E. Barrett, the nine tales of "The Iron Ace" appeared in Sky Birds magazine from 1933 through 1934. Barrett is best remembered for his novels, most notable of which are The Left Hand of God and The Lillies of the Field.
The Iron Ace William E Barrett 9780982095058 Books
This is an excellent, well written collection by an author best remembered for his novels, most notable of which are “The Left Hand of God” and “Lillies of the Field.” Unlike many of the other WW I pulp writers of the era, William Barrett’s style is reminiscent of a seasoned writer who took his craft seriously. The tales of the Iron Ace, Hugh McQuillen, “The Assassin” are not only gritty, stark and poetical at times, but actually follow a plausible time line. The Iron Ace is a believable character—a man caught up in the catastrophic events of a world war, trying to find his place among outlandishly, chivalric minded Englishmen and at the same time, avoid wholesale slaughter by a superior German Air Service. The combat scenes are bold and lavish at times but still credible and fun to read. The stark realities of aerial warfare are plainly spelled out in these stories. Life for the Allied airmen in early 1917 was bitter and short and only the best survived. The Iron Ace is a great book for those who enjoy rip-roaring aerial action tempered with grim, militaristic characterizations and terse dialogue. Probably the best book of the Age of Aces WW 1 collection. A big thumbs up for this one!Product details
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Tags : The Iron Ace [William E. Barrett] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In the misty skies of WWI France, history was written with flaming guns! And Yank airman Hugh McQuillen had smashed his way into those history books as The Iron Ace. Assigned as the C.O. of a Royal Flying Corps squadron,William E. Barrett,The Iron Ace,Age of Aces Books,0982095058,Fiction Action & Adventure
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The Iron Ace William E Barrett 9780982095058 Books Reviews
The nine fictional ‘pulp’ stories of Hugh McQuillen, aka the ‘Iron Ace’ appeared in the Sky Birds magazine from 1933 to 1934 and have been collected here in one volume. Because the stories follow a more set timeline (beginning April 6th, 1917, when America declares war on Germany) and keep to a loose chronological order the series reads more like a proper novel then as a collection of stand-alone pulps.
The stories focus on hard-bitten American ace McQuillen aka ‘The Assassin’ aka ‘The Yankee Gorilla’ ake ‘the Ace of the Laughing Skull’ whose personal insignia – a laughing skull face – is well-known and feared on both sides of the Front. These lofty titles, however, are not terms of endearment McQuillen is a Boche-blasting maniac in the style of the real-life ace Edward 'Mick' Mannock; Hugh shoots to kill, preferring to put his bullets into the cockpits of his foes then anywhere else, making him a true aerial assassin. This puts him at odds with the English aviators he commands (as well as some of his German opponents), who still want to adhere in some way to the rules of chivalry and would rather view themselves sky-knights then sky-assassins. But McQuillen was placed in command by a British major for the strict purpose of grooming Allied sky-assassins to meet the vicious German aerial onslaught. Naturally conflicting views of war, duty, honor, chivalry, and morality cause much tension between the Iron Ace and the men he leads. Yet McQuillen is not a bloodthirsty, glory-hunting hothead. He does not care about metals and hardly even tries to get his kills confirmed. He is dispassionate about the whole affair. He fights not out of hate nor for sport but simply for duty. Flying mostly in Nieuports and Sopwith Pups he fells his Hun adversaries by the dozens because it his is duty to do so, and anyone who kills out of blind hate or withholds from killing out of chivalry or cowardice has no respect in his eyes. In this war, you kill your enemy any way you can or else you go home or you die.
The dogfighting scenes are lavishly-written, detailed, desperate and grim, though some of the credibility is lost our American hero often manages to shoot down three to four Germans in every skirmish. Balloon-busting and the guarding of reconnaissance planes and bombers are also well-depicted. And because this is a pulp series there are incidences of betrayal, espionage, revenge, blackmailing, Zeppelins raids and the like. The ace German leaders are all vons (i.e. arrogant Prussians with hardly any redeeming values) and most of McQuillen’s men perish while the Iron Ace soldiers doggedly on. There are many brutally ironic situations that arise that are not lost on him and though he has hardened his heart he has not completely lost his humanity nor is he fully immune to pity and grief. There are a few fleeting female characters, no romance (thank God, so many WWI aviation novels are shoehorned by it), and the 'Iron Ace' remains decidedly a war-series focusing on the mental, physiological and spiritual turmoil of men (and ideals) at war.
Highly recommended for anyone who desires a high dose of adventure and dogfighting in their WWI fiction collections. The volume is quiet thick and includes almost a dozen black-and-white illustrations of aerial combat. Well worth the price and the high-quality presentation of some very old stories that are hardly known to today’s WWI aviation buffs is an added pleasure.
This was a good collection. I know little of the background on the author. I enjoyed the adventures of Hugh McQuillen. Action packed! I'm also a big fan of World War 1 settings.
This is an excellent, well written collection by an author best remembered for his novels, most notable of which are “The Left Hand of God” and “Lillies of the Field.” Unlike many of the other WW I pulp writers of the era, William Barrett’s style is reminiscent of a seasoned writer who took his craft seriously. The tales of the Iron Ace, Hugh McQuillen, “The Assassin” are not only gritty, stark and poetical at times, but actually follow a plausible time line. The Iron Ace is a believable character—a man caught up in the catastrophic events of a world war, trying to find his place among outlandishly, chivalric minded Englishmen and at the same time, avoid wholesale slaughter by a superior German Air Service. The combat scenes are bold and lavish at times but still credible and fun to read. The stark realities of aerial warfare are plainly spelled out in these stories. Life for the Allied airmen in early 1917 was bitter and short and only the best survived. The Iron Ace is a great book for those who enjoy rip-roaring aerial action tempered with grim, militaristic characterizations and terse dialogue. Probably the best book of the Age of Aces WW 1 collection. A big thumbs up for this one!
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