The New York Military Affairs Symposium

The lecture at the New York Military Affairs Symposium (NYMAS) really dealt with the life of Frank Luke and the material recently unearthed regarding this aviator.  The key points:

• The research approach I took with the book.  I went back to the proverbial drawing board with this project -- back to the archival sources (American, French, and German) to reconstruct Frank's life.  It was the same approach I used when doing Cruise of the Sea Eagle.  Yes - the German resources -- including the diary of the Prussian Army. air intelligence reports, and their maps of the battle zones where Frank's victories took place.  So many accounts were written that leveraged the inaccurate material that was fabricated -- that the truth is often lost in half-facts and erroneous accounts.  My approach was the use Frank's own letters (scattered in six different archives), the vast letters of the Luke family, and the accounts from actual witnesses -- as opposed to second-hand accounts, to reconstruct the life of Frank.
• I discussed the numerous errors, mostly deliberate, in previous accounts of Frank's life (especially the book Balloon Buster).  If you own this book please move it to your "fiction" shelf -- please!
• Details of Frank's engagement with Marie Rapson and their romance...including revealing for the first time some of the recently discovered photographs of Marie and Frank.  
• Discussion of Frank's record and specifics regarding Frank's first claimed combat kill on August 16.  I spent some time discussing the most likely victim of this encounter as well as the myth that Frank may have obtained combat kills prior to August 16 -- and the documented evidence (in his own letters) that shows such victories to be more speculation than historical fact.  
• Frank's most brilliant performance..."The Show," and what made that event so spectacular.  
• Also covered was the story of Ivan Andrew Roberts and his fate -- as well as why the infamous account in Balloon Buster is more fiction than reality.  
• I discussed the known facts of Frank's last flight, including details from the letters Royal Frey obtained from Bernard Mangels, the CO of Ballonzug 35 which downed Frank.  I addressed the multiple Murveaux affidavits, what they really say, and what they don't.  Having multiple letters from Herr Mangels allowed this author to accurately relate the known events that took place on that last flight.  
• A deconstruction of the myth of Frank Luke...leveraging archival sources.  Even the subtle twists of the Luke story were placed under scrutiny for this book.  In this case, the truth was much better than the myth itself.  

The NYMAS folks recorded the session and are in the process of coming up with a means to offer it as a podcast.  I cannot share my slide deck at this point given that some of the photographs are going to be reserved for use in the book.  

SOB (Son of Blake) Coming Soon on BattleCorps

Mr. Pardoe has completed the first installment in a series of short stories for Battlecorps.com entitled SOB. 

"I have always wanted to do a story series like this.  It follows the course of one character through his entire career in the cryptic Word of Blake.  Beginning of the Jihad story arc really has given me a chance to tell a story that will span this entire period. 

"SOB will start in the Chaos March years before the Jihad.  The second installment, which is done in draft at this time, is set during the ComStar strike on Terra.    The next piece will take place in some place, "very different," than the worlds we have seen thus far in BattleTech. 

"Writing from the perspective of a massive terrorist organization, The Word of Blake, proved to be quite challenging and rewarding.  I wanted this series of short stories to explain how someone could be part of something as large and corrupt as the Word of Blake.  I really wanted to show their perspective -- as I saw it."

Terror of the Autumn Skies.  Skyhorse Publishing.  2007.  Military Non-Fiction.  The story of the life of Frank Luke Jr., the first aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.  This book will break new ground into the life and death of Frank Luke, presenting new material for the first time ever regarding Luke's meteoric career. 

The Cruise of the Sea Eagle...The Paperback edition.  Coming to the UK this summer from Crecy Publishing. This UK version of the book includes photographs not before see by in the US Edition from Lyons Press. 

Current Activities:

Final Fate.  This is the story of Frederick Zinn of the French Foreign Legion, the French Air Service, the American Air Service,  and in WWII, the OSS.  In the creed of the US Air Force there is a line, "We will leave no airman behind."  Fred Zinn created that concept.

I am working on several other book ideas.   I am considering doing a comprehensive book on Americas First Soldier of Fortune of the Air -- Bert Hall.   Bert’s motto was, “Them that love me love me well.  Them that don’t can go to hell.”  He was a grand character and rouge; which you would expect from a man kicked out of the Lafayette Escadrille.  So much about his life has remained clouded in his own exaggerations and outright lies, the truth is proving to be just as interesting as the myth he tried to create. 

I have always been surprised with how many people around the world read my bestseller, Cubicle Warfare.  It is still in print in China and Germany and I constantly get questions about it.  I have begun work on a sequel of sorts, this time tackling the grand topic of corporate culture.  This dry, tongue-in-cheek look at the American workplace is bound to be the topic of water cooler discussions for years to come. 

I am working on a science fiction book (Alternate History) as well.  I'm keeping the topic of this fairly quiet at this point -- but my love of history and sci fi is going to come together on this project.   This is big, exciting, and bound to be controversial.