The book, Air Aces not only describes the fighting careers of the famous pilots over the better part of the twentieth century, it places their individual achievements in the context of the conditions under which they fought.  This exhaustively researched book contains a wealth of information on the greatest air aces of modern warfare.  While it is generally accepted that a combat pilot who achieves at least 5 "kills" is an ace, the "aces" covered in this book tallied scores far greater than this entry point into the club of "Air Aces" Air combat began over the Western Front early in World War I and soon produced Immelmann and Boelke of Germany, Albert Ball of Britain and Guynemer of France.  As the war progressed, with air battles being fought between multiple aircraft at the same time, a new crop of aces emerged including the legendary Manfred von Richthofen the Red Baron along with Ernst Udet & Werner Voss of Germany, Mannock, McCudden & Bishop of the British Empire and Fonck & Nungesser of France.  At the onset of World War II the German Luftwaffe had the advantage, which lead to Spanish Civil War Luftwaffe veterans Galland and Molders becoming aces.  Yet even early on, the Royal Air Force produced a number of aces including Bader, Tuck, Johnson, Malan and the night fighter ace, John Cunningham.  The United States' entry into World War II lead a new crop of aces including Gabreski and Johnson in the European Combat Theater and Bong and McGuire in the Pacific Combat Region.  The war in Russia witness the greatest number of air battles so it is no surprise that a Soviet Ace, Ivan Kozhedub became the top Allied ace with 64 victories.  This achievement pales, however, in comparison to the scores rolled-up by the two top Luftwaffe aces Hartman with 352 victories and Barkhorn with 301.  During the Korean War, F-86 Sabre pilots knocked down 829 Communist aircraft for a loss of only 78 of their own aircraft.  The subsequent Vietnam War added to the roll of American aces although the "kill" ratio was not as lopsided.  The many Arab-Israeli wars and Indo-Pakistan Wars also saw many aerial dogfights, which resulted in a number of aviators becoming aces.  The story is brought up to date with an account of the air war over the Falkland Islands including the many successes of the Royal Navy Sea Harrier pilots.  The major sections of "Air Aces" are as follows: 1) Introduction; 2) Chapter 1 - World War 1 - The Flying Circus; 3) Chapter 2 - Between The Wars - Biplane To Monoplane; 4) Chapter 3 - World War 2 - Carnage Over The Globe; 5) Chapter 4 - Postwar Aces - From Piston To Jet; 6) Chapter 5 - Modern Combat - The Electronic Age; 7) Bibliography and 8) Index.  In addition to an informative narrative and individual biographies on the greatest aces, "Air Aces" includes the following features: 1) Approximately 269 black and white photographs; 2) About 25 rare color photographs; 3) 1 map and 4) Many statistical tables.  This book is 192 pages and is in excellent condition.  The author is Christopher Shores.  Edition published in 1983.