Written by Captain W. E. Johns

Only 17, having lied about his age, young James Bigglesworth ("Biggles" to his friends) joins the Royal Flying Corp right out of school and with only a few hours of training under his belt, he's off to France to fight the Germans.

He is described as physcially small, with delicate, almost feminine hands, so it's lucky for him he didn't wind up in the trenches. The RFC finds an unlikely hero in young Biggles, his aptitude surprises his superiors and he outlives the majority of RFC cadets.

This book was published later, W.E. Johns looking back into Biggles' past, and the story is a fantastic blue-print for the man Biggles grows to be.

This is the realization of a dream for children of all ages, defying authority to fight for your King and Country and it has a wide appeal to both young and old alike. Biggles is the embodiment of several key values, such as loyalty, duty, hard-work, and putting the needs of the team above his own. But at the same time, he's not without flaws... yet we love him for it.