Reckless Fellows: The Gentlemen of the Royal Flying Corps

by Edward Bujak

The Royal Flying Corps (RFC), later the Royal Air Force, was formed in 1912 and went to war in 1914 where it played a vital role in reconnaissance, supporting the British Expeditionary Force as ‘air cavalry’ and also in combat, establishing air superiority over the Imperial German Air Force. Edward Bujak here combines the history of the air war, including details of strategy, tactics, technical issues and combat, with a social and cultural history.

The RFC was originally dominated by the landed elite, in Lloyd George’s phrase ‘from the stateliest houses in England’, and its pilots were regarded as ‘knights of the air’. Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, seat of landed gentry, became their major training base. Bujak shows how, within the circle of the RFC, the class divide and unconscious superiority of Edwardian Britain disappeared―absorbed by common purpose, technical expertise and by an influx of pilots from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He thus provides an original and unusual take on the air war in World War I, combining military, social and cultural history.

211 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2015

About the author

Edward Bujak is Senior Lecturer in British Studies and History at Harlaxton College, UK.

Reviews

[archive ☄ · Rating 3 out of 5]

admirably well-researched but lacks focus... the thesis is presented plainly in the introduction and then skirted around for the entire remainder of the book. but why? this text is also just... dense with quotes. every page is jam-packed with them. why not simply synthesize these sources instead of directly quoting them?? idk. it's an informative book but a repetitive one, and one with no apparent logic in chapter construction (or even sentence construction... i had a hard time following bujak's train of thought. he begins a sentence by talking about the burial of an officer at harlaxton and ends it with an anecdote about an australian squadron taking a day-flight to france... i'm confused. this book is all over the place!)

[Wen]

Having attend Dr. Bujak's lectures at Harlaxton, I was able to imagine the writer's voice while reading the book.
The book is very detailed and written for the WWI RFC enthusiast in mind.

[Beth E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thought provoking read.
One fact that stood out to me was that in 1917, pilots sent to the front had a life expectancy of 17 days. So very sad.