Above Flanders' Fields

[jsontag]

Hey all I've got a question about this book Above Flanders' Fields: A Complete Record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and Their Units During the Great War, 1914-1918 by Walter Pieters. Mr. Pieters has recently written the mammoth tome The Belgian Air Service in the First World War, so I'm asking if one should have both or just the latter? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Would Above Fanders' Fields make a great companion to the new book?

Thanks,
James Sontag

[Jos]

Hello James,

I have both books. Above Flanders' Fields I bought a lot of years ago. I was glad to have that book, but The Belgian Air Service is really a-must-have. Above Flanders Fields (123 pages) is a decent book, but TBAS (722 pages) beats it on every point. Almost on every point: In AFF you can read under each biography the victories of that airman. This is not the case in TBAS, but here you have in appendix B a list of confirmed and unconfirmed victories of the Aviation Militaire. Furthermore the list of biographies of 375 Belgian Aviators is much longer than in AFF. AFF has "only" a complete record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and their Units.

You can read on the back of TBAS:

The Belgian Air Service in the First World War is the story of men, machines and operations of the valiant Aviation Militaire Belge from it's beginning until the Armistice.

* The history of the Belgian Air Service
* Daily chronology of the BAS in combat.
* Biographies of 375 Belgian aviators
* More than 1.000 photographs
* 81 color profiles of Belgian aircraft

If you want to buy one of the two books, don't doubt and order TBAS. I think it is the definitive book on Belgian Aviation in World War 1.

Walter Pieters deserves a great, great compliment for writing TBAS.

Jos

[jsontag]

Originally Posted by Jos

Hello James,

I have both books. Above Flanders' Fields I bought a lot of years ago. I was glad to have that book, but The Belgian Air Service is really a-must-have. Above Flanders Fields (123 pages) is a decent book, but TBAS (722 pages) beats it on every point. Almost on every point: In AFF you can read under each biography the victories of that airman. This is not the case in TBAS, but here you have in appendix B a list of confirmed and unconfirmed victories of the Aviation Militaire. Furthermore the list of biographies of 375 Belgian Aviators is much longer than in AFF. AFF has "only" a complete record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and their Units.

You can read on the back of TBAS:

The Belgian Air Service in the First World War is the story of men, machines and operations of the valiant Aviation Militaire Belge from it's beginning until the Armistice.

* The history of the Belgian Air Service
* Daily chronology of the BAS in combat.
* Biographies of 375 Belgian aviators
* More than 1.000 photographs
* 81 color profiles of Belgian aircraft

If you want to buy one of the two books, don't doubt and order TBAS. I think it is the definitive book on Belgian Aviation in World War 1.

Walter Pieters deserves a great, great compliment for writing TBAS.

Jos

Hello Jos, thank you so much for the information. I just ordered Above Flanders' Fields. Seems like having both would be cool. I plan on getting The Belgian Air Service sometime in the near future. I agree that Walter Pieters deserves all the credit in the world for writing these two books.

James