The Last Enemy

"Because it’s an absolute classic of the war. It follows the personal journey that he went through, though it’s a tragic tale. Hillary came from a privileged background to become a pilot, but later he was shot down and suffered very badly from burns. During his long recovery he wrote this book. Nevertheless he maintained a desire to fly and he went back again – and was killed during a training accident. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter That’s right; he had what was called a ‘clawed hand’ from the burns. I believe, however, that he forced the issue with the RAF. On my 40th birthday I went up in a Tiger Moth. I felt ill the whole time – the motion sickness was awful. I am, without a doubt, an armchair aviator."