Memoirs Of A Nationalist Fighter Pilot: 1936-1939. Combat Over Spain.

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Larios came from a wealthy, connected family. In just the prologue he recounts his travels to Bombay, New Dehli, Kenya, Ceylon and Cairo, and he recalls that he happened to bump into Ernest Hemingway on a ship during that trip. Larios attended school in England and, therefore, was able to speak and read English fluently. It appeared to have been a charmed life, but Larios wastes no time in drawing the reader's attention to the deep, fundamental problems that afflicted Spain under the chaos of the Second Republic. The bulk of the book goes into great detail and military analysis of the SCW and the role that the Air Force played in the victory of the Nationalists. Along the way, Larios provides multiple humorous (with precise dates and names, no less) accounts of his life in the fledgling Air Force. His descriptions of dogfights and other dangers associated with flying I found to be thrilling, though I should point out that I am deathly afraid to fly. Indeed, there is a great deal to be admired about his abilities as a pilot to evade the enemy and even turn the tables on him. When he scored his first shoot down, I was so very happy for him! Larios' best stuff involves the times when he was not flying. The man loved the ladies and he loved his booze. I felt a very strong connection with him from that perspective. Still, there is a serious element to this book. He does an excellent job of moving the reader along the course of events in the SCW, with the focus on the air campaigns of the Nationalists. He claims that his description of aerial battles must seem monotonous, but I found each one to be absolutely thrilling. Larios not only writes well, but he clearly is a man given to deep introspection, and is not afraid to make fun of his and his colleagues' mistakes. I think the biggest surprise for me was his utter lack of bitterness toward the Left in the book. Granted, his side won the war, but he had a sister who was blinded by a would-be Leftist assassin, and many friends of his died in combat or were murdered outright by the Left. He recounts his own multiple narrow escapes with a rather matter-of-factness that it sometimes escaped me just how close to capture or death he came. Larios knows how to tell a story, that's for sure. and this can be recommend wholeheartedly. HB with jacket, (price clipped), vg condition, browning strip to opening and closing plain pages
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Memoirs Of A Nationalist Fighter Pilot: 1936-1939. Combat Over Spain.

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