From the First World War to the Korean War, Canada has produced "knights of the air" whose remarkable achievements are registered in their tally of aerial combat "kills". Billy Bishop was the most famous, but there were others who were just as skilled and ruthless. In Air Aces, Dan McCaffery tells the stories of a dozen Canadian "aces." These men, drawn from very different backgrounds, had much in common: each was immensely brave, had a powerful killer instinct, and was very, very good at his "profession." Many were also extraordinary characters, colourful swashbucklers whose skills as pilots were matched only by their flair for the dramatic. A thoughtful account of the nature of war and wartime heroism, Air Aces examines the popular figure of the fighter ace as it emerges in the First World War, and wanes before the carnage of later conflicts.