'A haunting book ... brilliant' Financial Mail Featuring a foreword by Group Captain Peter Townsend In 1939, at the age of nineteen, Jim Bailey was conscripted into the RAF to train as a fighter pilot. What happened over the next five years to Jim and the men he met, the men who fought, died and survived, is related with candour and quiet modesty in this book. It describes the youthful heroism of his companions, and he captures the atmosphere of everyday life on the ground in wartime Britain, as well as the air battles.

In 1939, at the age of nineteen, Jim Bailey was conscripted into the RAF to train as a fighter pilot. What happened over the next five years to Jim and the men he met, the men who fought, died, and survived, is related with candor and quiet modesty in this book. It describes the youthful heroism of his companions, and he captures the atmosphere of everyday life on the ground in wartime Britain, as well as the air battles.

“U-N-I-Verse” is a platform for all “seekers” to share wisdom with the world. It is a series where writers from all religions, schools of thought and walks of life come together to discuss differences and similarities in order to shed light on and build upon common points of interest that may lead to Universal balance and harmony. This series is intended to unify the human family and realign all with the cosmic symphony that man’s ego and pride has disrupted. In Volume five of the U-N-I-VERSE series, author Salim Shabazz (formerly Saleem Little) invites Authors Dane Brown, George Hopkins, Shavar L. Thompson, Lorenzo Johnson and poet Eza to share their thoughts, poems, and social examinations in a collective endeavor to raise consciousness and awareness while preserving the art form of poetry and expanding the horizons of literature. It is said that too often only the paper listens. Too often great ideas, thoughts, stories, etc. remain confined in the mind of their creator. Be it Writer's block, a writer's fear, or a person's unawareness of their writing potential, stories and ideas too often never reach the consciousness of the masses. Writer's Block is one author's first step in a quest to inspire more to inspire by the pen.

“An immersive fever dream of a novel, beautifully written and boldly imagined.” —Leslie Jamison, New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams From prizewinning writer Joe Fassler comes a brilliant modern reimagining of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus as a story of obsession, longing, and the radical pursuit of utopia It’s 2005, and 24-year-old Jane is miserable. Overworked, buried in debt, she senses the life she wanted slipping away—while the world around her veers badly off course, hurtling toward economic and ecological collapse. She wants to find something better. But she has no idea where to start. In a sudden and unprecedented burst of rebellion, Jane decides to abandon everything she knows, leaving behind her relationships and responsibilities to go on the road. That’s how she meets Barry, a brilliant and charismatic recluse living on an isolated homestead near New York’s Canadian border. For years, in secret, Barry’s chased an unlikely obsession: to build a pair of wings humans can fly in, with designs inspired by an obscure precursor to the Wright Brothers. It’s no mere hobby. He’s convinced his dream of flight will spark a revolution, delivering us from the degradation of modern capitalism and the climate chaos that awaits us. Jane is captivated by Barry’s radical vision, even as his experiments become more dangerous. But she’s equally drawn to the enigmatic Ike, Barry’s gentle, thoughtful son, who’s known no other reality—and who only wants to keep his father alive, tethered to ground and to reason. So begins an inventive, dazzlingly beautiful story about the human desire for transcendence—our longing to escape the mundane and glide into a euphoric future. Inspired by the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, The Sky Was Ours is a powerful and imaginative debut that explores the question: If you had access to technology that allowed you to escape the confines of your life, would you use it? And if Barry’s wings really could change the world, would that be freedom?