{"product_id":"the-first-fighter-pilot-roland-garros-the-life-and-times-of-the-playboy-who-invented-air-combat-9781629671574","title":"The First Fighter Pilot - Roland Garros: The Life and Times of the Playboy Who Invented Air Combat","description":"\u003cp\u003eRoland Garros enjoyed an exciting life. An aviation pioneer in the early 1900s, he taught himself how to fly a bamboo airplane despite crashing it at Versailles. He was a world-class athlete, a lawyer who wouldn't learn Latin, a sports car salesman on the Champs-Elys es, an airshow pilot and racer. He demonstrated flight to huge crowds up and down the Americas. Ultimately, Roland Garros became the world's first fighter pilot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaving his comfortable life in Paris, he flew and fought in the lethal skies of the first World War. Never before had a lone pilot hunted other men in the air. Shot down and captured, he escaped prisoner of war camp, evaded his way across Germany, and crossed the front lines. After a torrid fling in Paris with an exotic dancer, he rejoined his squadron. Garros needed two more aerial victories to become an ace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis creative non-fiction biography puts you in an open cockpit, in air combat, and in Paris experiencing Belle Epoque pleasures. What was it like to fly across the Mediterranean in a rickety monoplane? How did pilots dogfight in WWI? Fasten your seatbelt for exciting aerial action and the adventure-packed life of Roland Garros, the first fighter pilot \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Check Six Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50516157694226,"sku":"9781629671574","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0b7308b0-9283-47fe-bc60-9610b129c82c.jpg?v=1731020300","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-first-fighter-pilot-roland-garros-the-life-and-times-of-the-playboy-who-invented-air-combat-9781629671574","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}