Fighting the Flying Circus

By: Eddie V. Rickenbacker

Narrated by: John Pruden

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. Captain Rickenbacker later belonged to an association of pilots and Great War air veterans who, in the years immediately following the Second World War, invited many of the new "young" aces from the Pacific and European theaters for informal lectures. These men never lost their keen interest in aviation.

Public Domain (P)2012 Tantor

The Hat in the Ring Squadron….

I treasure the Life Magazine cover with a picture of my father, an ace of another war, standing next to his F-86, with the emblazoned logo of the squadron which he commanded: the Hat in the Ring squadron.
This humble, wonderful book describes the war in the air in the Great War. The beginning of war in the air…

An American Hero's early story

Rickenbacker was a larger than life character that I had heard of, but knew little about. This book delves into the man, and his passion from an early age.
Having a love of aviation, I marvel at the accomplishments and innovations this man has achieved. The advancement of aeronautics has a great deal to credit to this amazing individual
A great read, especially for someone with interest in early aviation, and early military strategy. I loved it!

Fantastic Story!!!!!

I was never once board during this book. The Narrator did a great job. Worth the listen.

Very well narrated

Great book made even better by the narrator. It’s easy to attach his voice to the image

A primary source from America's Ace of Aces

What did you love best about Fighting the Flying Circus?

Historical primary sources that are this colorful are rare. WWI has been hugely overshadowed by WWII for most Americans interested in history for a number of reasons, one being that it seems obscure, foreign, and bleak to today's reader. Rickenbacker's account gives it an immediacy that cannot be denied: these were young men fighting on the last front of modern war that had some claim to a code of gallantry and chivalry, though total war is by its nature brutal and unromantic.

What did you like best about this story?

I like social and military history, so getting a firsthand account of an aviator's life just as military aviation began to develop was right up my alley.

What does John Pruden bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As the book is written in the first person, having it narrated made it feel more like Rickenbacker was telling his story to me personally. The narration is competent and unremarkable, which is probably a good thing with a book like this; the narrator has no quirks that detract from the story.