A Prince Among Men: A Novel of the U.S. Army Air Corps (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798284070000)

Bertram Prince Jr., the son and namesake of a wealthy New York businessman, quits Yale University to join the U.S. Army Air Service. After completing flight training in France, Young Bertram is assigned to the 97th Aero Squadron, which is deployed near Verdun. Prince, a neophyte when it comes to the artistry of air combat, is shortly schooled in the ways of dog-fighting. First in the dubious if not inferior Nieuport 28 scout, then in the legendary SPAD XIII fighter. He slowly learns the rules of air combat while developing some fragile friendships with his squadron mates.

In New York, his father, Bertram Prince Sr., unaware that his youngest son has quit college and joined the Air Corps, frets over his long absence. Bertram Jr. told his father and mother that he was taking the winter semester off from college to vacation in London, to "sort out his thoughts" and reassess his life's goals. When he doesn't return in a timely fashion, without a word or even a letter, his father hires a detective to investigate his son's whereabouts. The detective discovers that Bertram Jr. has indeed joined the Air Service as a pursuit pilot.

The detective discovers something else. Something extremely troubling and shocking. Young Bertram is wanted by the police for murder. He is also sought by a notorious New York gangster. Bertram Prince Sr. must save his son from both, and from the ravages of the war. Because in France, the American army has launched a massive offensive in the Verdun Sector, hoping to finally crush the Germans and win the war. Bertram Jr.'s squadron will play major role in that titanic battle.