During its titanic military struggle with Germany, the Soviet Union received a major boost with the arrival and deployment of nearly 5,000 Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter - courtesy of America's Lend-Lease program. The impact was dramatic as the Soviets quickly adapted the planes into a devastatingly lethal force. Loza vividly re-creates the battle campaigns of this odd coupling of capitalist planes and Marxist pilots and allows access to a little-known part of the air war on the Eastern Front.... Based on interviews with Soviet veterans and extensive access to squadron histories and log books, this account provides a rare and insightful look at what it was like to live and fight in this victorious air unit. - Air Classics ""Superb anecdotes abound."" - Air & Space ""If you like vigorous and heroic air combat, you'll love this book."" - Virginia Quarterly Review ""An extraordinarily accurate and vivid account that deserves a wide readership."" - David M. Glantz, author of The Battle of Kursk