The Millionaires’ Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power – Marc Wortman
The Millionaires’ Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power – Marc Wortman. This book describes the young men of Yale that started a flying club, and eventually formed the nucleus of the fledging US air service in World War I. Coming from Yale, most of the men came from family of means, hence the title of the book. Interesting enough, it paints a picture of group that felt a sense of responsibility to their country and not a group that felt privledged to let others fight the country’s battles. These were volunteers that was fascinated with flying and were willing to put their lives on the line. There’s only two weakness to book, one is that the story can be a bit disjointed at times, as the thread that holds their individual stories together is Yale. The second is lack of maps – one that is unfortuantely shared with some many history books. Its hard to follow the text when you can put cities and towns in context. Other than that, a worthy addition to your library if you are interested in the beginnings Amerian Airpower.