Originally published in 1952, FLAMES IN THE SKY contains within it a series of stories full of derring-do based on various aspects of the air war during World War II from the German Blitzkrieg in the West in May 1940 to Japan's last gasp through the use of Kamikazes (suicide planes) to wrest victory from the inescapable pincers of defeat in August 1945.

While the stories contained within this book are essentially true, some of the details therein are questionable. For example, Clostermann's description of the actions of a German fighter pilot in a Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter in attacking an American bomber formation over Germany in April 1945, while written with a novelist's flourish, beggars belief. As does the details of the final Kamikaze mission of the war carried out by Admiral Matome Ugaki on August 15th, 1945. None of it matches with what really happened on that day. Clostermann describes it as a success. But in truth, Ugaki failed to hit his target, a group of U.S. warships near Okinawa.

Were FLAMES IN THE SKY a novel, I would rate it at 3 stars. But given that it has inaccuracies in it and that its author was himself a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot during the war, I can only rate the book with 2 stars. I liked the book, but it is not a keeper.