Though the main focus of "Marked for Death: The First War in the Air" is on the growth and development of British military aviation (as represented by both the Royal Flying Corps [RFC] and Royal Naval Air Service [RNAS], which later amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force [RAF] on April 1st, 1918) during the First World War, it also sheds considerable light on the evolution of aviation from its inception through 1918. Topics such as 'Why Biplanes?', 'Armed to the Teeth', 'Combat and Other Missions', 'The Making of a Flying Man', 'How they lived', 'Parachutes and Fatalism', and 'Home Defence' give the reader a full perspective on the science, prevailing attitudes, mysteries, joys and hazards of flying. This is a first class book, well-written and comprehensive. I learned so much in reading it.