As is often the case in large scale conflict, there are areas where most historians concentrate and in WWI, that was the Western Front. However, there was a lot of fighting between Italy and Austria-Hungary during the war, mostly in the area of north-east Italy. Some of this is quite mountainous so the battles were not on exactly the same scale as one saw in France.

Air power played a role in these battles as well with the Italians relying pretty much on French fighter designs to carry them through the war. Most of these planes were built in Italy under license and include various Nieuport and SPAD types as well as the very nice Hanriot. If you have fighters, then you will have men who excel at shooting down planes and so it was with the Italians who had some very successful men. Most have heard of the top Italian aces such as Baracca (whose prancing horse adorns Ferrari cars) as well as Ruffo and Piccio, but there were many others who were able to reach ace status of whom few have heard.

In this book, author Paolo Varriale, the curator of the Baracca Museum, covers the story of these men. Each ace is listed alphabetically and his story is told from birth to death as none of these men are still alive. It includes his record of successes and that is matched as much as still possible with records from the other side.

Included in the book are superb period photos of the men and their aircraft as well as the color profiles of many of their aircraft. It is an excellent read and reference for the enthusiast and modeler alike. A book that I can easily recommend to you.

January 2010

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