TWO BESTSELLERS IN ONE VOLUME. A unique opportunity to see the Great Patriotic War from the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Frank interviews with “Stalin's falcons” - both those who received baptism of fire in the first days of the war (only a few of them survived), and those who replaced the fallen. The whole truth about the grandiose air battles on the Soviet-German front, priceless details of the combat work and front-line life of our aces who broke the back of the Luftwaffe. How many kilograms did the pilot lose in each combat mission and what obscenities were on the air during the battle. How the heart skips a beat after the command “ Cover, I'm attacking!" and it darkens in the eyes from overload at the exit from the attack. What’s worse - to fight “on verticals” with “Messers” and “foresocks”, to break the formation of German bombers, or to cover “pawns” and “hunchbacks” climbing into the thick of things. What is it like - to burn in a damaged car and make an emergency landing on its belly. How the “Stalinist falcons” lived, died and won – and what price was paid for each victorious star on the fuselage.