Heinz Knoke won Germany's highest award for gallantry: the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Joining the German air force on the eve of the Second World War, he fought throughout the conflict in a fighter squadron. In his 400 missions he shot down 52 Allied aircraft, including 19 American four-engined heavy bombers. He was shot down himself, and badly injured in the last weeks of the war. His memoirs were translated into English in the 1950s and have never been out of print since then. However, this is the first mass-market edition in nearly 20 years.