“Annette Carson has done a wonderful job of chronicling Armstrong’s life, flight training and ultimate recognition as the undisputed master of aerobatics.” —Over the Front Initially forbidden as foolhardy, stunt flying soon became a paramount method of survival in the life and death mêlées of dogfighting. But pilots still delighted in the joy and exuberance of aerobatting for its own sake, and they recognized a master of that very special skill in young D’Urban Victor Armstrong, whose displays were nothing short of electrifying. Fluid and dramatic, performed with flair at ultra-low level, his exhibitions left spectators shaking their heads in disbelief. Until this book, little was known about Armstrong’s wartime experiences, and even less about his South African background. His great value to the authorities lay in his superb handling of the Sopwith Camel, which upon its introduction had taken a heavy toll in fatal trainee accidents. While still on active service, Armstrong was sent around the units providing vivid proof that, properly handled, the stubby little fighter delivered the key to combat success: unrivaled maneuverability. His resultant fame eclipsed his other distinguished role in pioneering night flying and night fighting, an equally vital skill he was also detailed to demonstrate around the squadrons. In this “superb biography,” you will find yourself in the cockpit of the F.1 Camel and become acquainted with its rotary engine (Stand To!). You will meet many leading names including Billy Bishop, Cecil Lewis, Norman Macmillan, Robert Smith Barry, and the harum-scarum Three Musketeers from War Birds. Armstrong takes his place alongside them as one of the legendary figures of the first great aerial war.

Annette Carson, a member of the team that found the grave of the ‘Lost King’, Richard III, has produced this new edition of Mancini’s important eyewitness report. Domenico Mancini was an Italian visitor to London in 1483 who witnessed Richard III’s rise from Protector to King, and wrote the only genuinely contemporary account. An early translation was published in the 1930s which, for modern historians, leaves much to be desired. The title and a number of key passages were mistranslated. In addition, Mancini’s misunderstanding of England’s laws and governance, and his omission of crucial facts, were left unremarked. This is a more accurate translation and analysis which reflects the latest 21st-century research.

Richard III was King of England in 1483–1485. Now the discovery of his lost grave has led to an upsurge of interest in his controversial reputation.

Acclaimed author Annette Carson continues her Richard III studies by concentrating on his brief protectorate while he was still Duke of Gloucester.

Richard III, King of England from 1483 to 1485, made good laws that still protect ordinary people today. Yet history concentrates on the fictional hunchback as depicted by Shakespeare: the wicked uncle who stole the throne and killed his nephews in the Tower of London. Voices have protested during the intervening years, some of them eminent and scholarly, urging a more reasoned view to replace the traditional black portrait. But historians, whether as authors or presenters of popular TV history, still trot out the old pronouncements about ruthless ambition, usurpation and murder. After centuries of misinformation, the truth about Richard III has been overdue a fair hearing. Annette Carson seeks to redress the balance by examining the events of his reign as they actually happened, based on reports in the original sources. She traces the actions and activities of the principal characters, investigating facts and timelines revealed in documentary evidence. She also dares to investigate areas where historians fear to tread, and raises some controversial questions. In 2012 Carson was a member of Philippa Langley's Looking For Richard Project, which provided important new answers from the DNA-confirmed discovery of the king's remains. Her involvement in Langley's Missing Princes Project, with its international research initiative on the 'princes in the Tower', has now informed her revelatory extra chapter.

When Congress declared war in April 1917, the Europeans had already deployed their third generation of fighters, equipped with machine guns and capable of speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, while the American Air Service consisted of only a handful of aviators in unarmed trainers. In this first in-depth study of America's first air warriors, Frandsen shows how in just two years the 1st Pursuit Group organized, absorbed French and British technology and experience, and became a well-led, respected, and lethal force over the trenches of the Western Front. Fascinating portraits of America’s first aviation leaders and legends, including Eddie Rickenbacker, Billy Mitchell, Frank Luke, Benjamin Foulouis, Bert Atkinson, and James Meissner, provide new and controversial perspective on one of America’s least understood wars and on the origins of the most powerful air force in history. Toxic personalities, competing French-British tactics and aircraft, and an experienced, aggressive enemy forced the Americans into a tactical crucible with deadly results, including 73 casualties in the Meuse-Argonne campaign alone.