Among the many social changes that emerged amid World War I was the first entry of non-Europeans into the seemingly elite realm of military aviation. Although they faced prejudice, by 1918, pilots of African descent turned up in the Italian Air Corps, the Turkish Navy, Britain’s Royal Flying Corps and the French Air Service.

Jon Guttman, a resident of Leesburg, Virginia, is currently the senior editor for Historynet.com. Specialising in World War I aviation, he has written nineteen titles for Osprey, including the popular Aircraft of the Aces 66: Balloon-Busting Aces of World War I, as well as Grim Reapers: French Escadrille 94 in World War I and Aerial Foreign Legion: Volunteer Foreign Airmen in French Escadrille Service.