The Blue Max

The most coveted combat decoration in all Germany, the Blue Max was a symbol of power, fame, and prestige beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Bruno Stachel is a nobody, a newly recruited junior officer in a First World War combat squadron. But he is determined not to remain a nobody for long. He has his sights on the Blue Max, the most coveted of all German decorations, and he will do anything to get it. From the very moment he shoots down his first plane, everything he does is aimed at that goal. This world-famous novel of deadly combat in the skies tells the story of the men who killed for the Blue Maxand died for it. Stachelmurderer and alcoholic. His meteoric rise to glory alienated him from his fellow pilots, and ultimately from human decency. Ketteringcollector of pornography. He became the victim of Stachels ruthless ambition. Von Klugermannthe haughty aristocrat. He delved too deeply into Stachels torment, only to discover a cobra. Kaetithe woman who knew them all. Arrogant noblewoman, black- mailing nymphomaniacand Stachels beautiful mistress. Jack D. Hunters novel is a classic of war literature and a brilliant study of a pilot tortured by his naked ambition.