Author O'Malley served in the Irish Air Corps as a flying officer in the 1960s and now holds a doctorate in history from National University of Ireland-Maynooth. In this account of the history of the Irish Military Air Service, he chronicles the survival of the Army Air Corps despite lack of government defense policy and an indifference to military aviation from the Army leadership. He investigates Air Corps actions enforcing secretive government orders during WWII, and looks at reasons behind the disastrous casualties resulting from actions by untrained personnel. About 20 pages of appendices list primary sources, statistics, documents, log book material, and personal files of a number of officers. The book is illustrated with b&w historical photos. US distribution is by Dufour. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)