J. E. Johnson (1915–2001)

"Johnnie" Johnson was an RAF ace in the Battle of Britain. He survived the war, as so many of his kind did not, and went on to high rank. I found this book as a cheap Bantam paperback (under the title The Story of Air Fighting), and didn't expect much from it; but it provides many insights on the air war over Europe that I had not gotten from my extensive reading on the subject. He confirms the general impression that Hermann Goering lost the war for Hitler, or at least made Allied victory show more much simpler, being as he was a drug-addicted, megalomaniac political hack. But he goes on to say what he would have done in Goering's position. Most notably, he points out that the packed RAF and USAAF bomber bases in East Anglia would have been terribly vulnerable to low-level raiders coming in over the North Sea, show less

One of the classics of aerial warfare books. Written by Johnnie Johnson, who was the top scoring RAF pilot with 38 victories, the book has great action sequences. Originally written in 1956, the books still reads very well.

Johnson was the Royal Air Force's official top-scoring fighter pilot in World War II. "Wing Leader" was his memoir of flying and leading fighters in that war; "Full Circle" was his insider's history of fighter tactics as they evolved over the course of two world wars. It's an interesting read for anyone fascinated the history of air combat, as the "nuts and bolts" of such combat often gets glossed over in standard memoirs.

A very interesting account by this famous pilot, with notes on tactics and various aircraft, used in western Europe 1940-45, including the German Jet aircraft which he had to try and combat. I believe that the book stands the 50 years since it was published well.