SPITFIRES

The heart-pounding true story of the American women who piloted the world's most dangerous aircraft through the treacherous skies of Britain during World War II.

In 1942, a few months after the United States entered the Second World War, a band of twenty-five American women traveled to England to ferry planes for the British Royal Air Force. These women were not permitted to fly for the United States military. But Great Britain, desperate for a steady supply of warplanes in a fight for survival, accepted ferry pilots regardless of gender, race, or nationality. These "spitfires" were risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war. They flew new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and shot-up planes back for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many died in crashes or made spectacular saves. But ferrying was also the women's opportunity to do their patriotic duty, excel, and revel in adventure. Before the war, they were crop dusters or debutantes, college girls or performers in flying circuses. But in wartime they lived like women decades ahead of their time, choosing the identities they wanted. Some shocked their British hosts with their thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams. Becky Aikman is the author of two books of narrative nonfiction: her memoir, Saturday Night Widows, and Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge. Aikman worked as a journalist at Newsday and has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications.