The book is an excellent study of the psychological motives and actions of men in aerial combat and how the pilots reacted to the stress of flying in an enclosed space. Klinkowitz examines in detail previously published personal accounts of witnesses of the air battles over Europe and the Mediterranean during World War II, addressing readers of previous memoirs and fiction works on the air war. Along the way, he uncovers such little-examined items as the use of the "sports" metaphor and what it meant in the campaign against the German Air Force. The motives, conventions, and literary styles of this aviation literature, especially the personal accounts, has never been examined, and Klinkowitz has managed to produce an engaging study suitable for libraries interested in the subject.