In assembling the first installment of a projected six-volume series documenting the air war on the Eastern Front, the authors combed hitherto unexplored archives in the former Soviet Union to produce the first balanced history of the subject. More than 180 photographs that have never been seen by any reading public accompany color maps and an authoritative text debunking 50-year-old Western beliefs about Operation Barbarossa. The lives and accomplishments of Soviet fighter aces, about which little, if anything, has previously been published, make this groundbreaking history essential reading for both enthusiasts and casual history buffs.