High Adventure: A Narrative of Air Fighting in France

Summary

War in the sky for the first time in history! The first military air force, the French Lafayette Escadrille, accepts Americans to train and serve as pilots prior to America's entry into World War I.

James Norman Hall, one of these young men, describes his frightening experiences flying over enemy lines—and his soul searching when commanded to kill. He recounts his training in a French flight school on wooden bi-planes, his warm friendships with other trainees, and crash landing in German territory.

After this period in his life, Hall eventually settled in Tahiti, married, raised a family, and became reacquainted with an old friend and writer, Charles Nordhoff. Together they wrote the famous novel Mutiny on the Bounty and other books, many of which became major motion pictures.