Clostermann's account of the air war in Europe is one of the best I've ever read -- almost as good as Wellum's "First Light." Clostermann's writing is vibrant, the level of detail is astounding, and his ability to put you "in the cockpit" during those harrowing days is really unparalleled. Highly recommended.

My only complaint, and what robbed the book of a fifth star in my humble opinion, is that Clostermann's transparent anti-American agenda is pursued at every turn, without any perspective or sense of balance. For example (a) his (arguably fair) criticism of French civilian deaths at the hands of American bombers is devoid of any similar reference to Bomber Command's exploits in the intentional area bombing of German civilians; (b) friendly fire events actually appear at every turn in his narrative, but the Americans are singled out for special criticism on that point, for no apparent reason other than bias; and (c) Clostermann claims at one point, without any evidentiary basis whatsoever, that a directive about "proper" targets in the theater was ignored only by the Americans.

Indeed, at times one detects Clostermann's generic distaste even for some of the Brits in the RAF! I was left wondering whether Clostermann was "projecting" in an effort to avoid discussion of the frankly shameful conduct of so many Frenchmen during the war.

But all that is, in the end, a small bone to pick. Certainly Clostermann himself was not among the group of disgraced Frenchmen. His devotion to duty, skill, and courage -- characteristics shared by many of the Free French pilots -- can't be doubted. Moreover, his frank discussions of his own fear, and the effects on his flying, give this narrative an authentic feel. This is a very good book.

Along with Heinz Knocke's 'I Flew for the Fuhrer' an absolutely outstanding aviation read. Like others here the original edition I had inherited was almost worn thin. I was delighted to read the 'extra bits' as I could probably almost recite the old one! Particularly poignant were the comments regarding Tempests being attacked by US fighters and the description of the 262's arriving to surrender on Clostermann's airfield in 1945. This book simply cannot be recommended enough.

PS:I would suggest along with 'I Flew for the Fuhrer' that an excellent companion read is Eric Brown's 'Wings of the Luftwaffe' - an RAF technical pilot who offers unbiased opinions on Luftwaffe aircraft.

PPS: Regarding the -D9/Ta152 comments above. I believe old Clo-Clo is technically correct!

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Pierre Closterman died on March 22, 2006. News of his death prompted me to go back to my father's bookcase and pull out 'The Big Show'. It was just as exhilarating a read as I remmeber as a kid in the 70's

Closterman uses wondefully evocative language in decscribing events in the air over Europe in WWII. Full of action and a 'vital elan' that was unfortunately in short supply among Frenchmen in the 30's and 40's. Some drawbacks to the book are an uneccessary snobbish attitude towards the Americans and Brits as well as minimizing of some of his own failures (the most critical being the lack of air discipline that led him to fail to support his wingman, Mouchette, that led to his companion's death). But such is the nature of autobiographies.

But well worth the hours spent to read this gripping account of one man's war.


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What a pleasure to have a new edition of this marvelously evocative book available! This is the first time that it has been presented in its entirety and the additions only increase the book's value as a window into the world of the combat aviator.

The book was originally written shortly after the war and as a result there is an immediacy about it that is, at times, electrifying. It was an international best seller and deservedly so, highlighting the career of a fighter pilot who started flying combat on Spitfires and ended up in Tempests. For many years it was the only book that dealt with combat action in the Tempest, a beautiful and powerful warplane introduced late in the war to combat the V1 and the new German jets. The original edition has some minor errors in it, but the descriptions of the missions were just outstanding! The swirl of the dogfights, the dives into flak, dealing with zero visibility weather, the victories recounted in detail, the losses of friends recalled with a warrior's stoicism, this fine book set a standard that has only been approached by other works.

As V. M. Yeates WINGED VICTORY was the finest First World War fighter pilot book, THE BIG SHOW is the second war's. Yeates told his story as a novel based on his experiences as a Sopwith Camel pilot on the Western Front, but the latter book, while reading like a novel, has the extra advantage of being true.

Pierre Clostermann wrote two other books, but his first book was his finest and cannot be recommended highly enough. To read it is to find in its pages what it was like for young men to fly and fight in the hostile skies of Europe in what has come to be known as "the good war."

This book is a page turner. It's amazingly exciting and you will feel like you're into the cockpit of Spitfires and, later, Tempests. But some strong issues arise...

First of all, the number of victories by Clostermann. He says he had 33. RAF official claims put him wuth "only" eleven! A great, very GREAT discrepancy;

Second, a lot of facts are simply untrue. He says, about Walter Nowotny's death, that the German ace was a long foe of him. Goosh, ALL of Nowotny's victories were obtained on the Eastern Front, save on or two pairs, while he was flying an experimental Me-262 unit in Western Europe!

Anyway, it's very good book.

This book is a page turner. It's amazingly exciting and you will feel like you're into the cockpit of Spitfires and, later, Tempests. But some strong issues arise...

First of all, the number of victories by Clostermann. He says he had 33. RAF official claims put him wuth "only" eleven! A great, very GREAT discrepancy;

Second, a lot of facts are simply untrue. He says, about Walter Nowotny's death, that the German ace was a long foe of him. Goosh, ALL of Nowotny's victories were obtained on the Eastern Front, save on or two pairs, while he was flying an experimental Me-262 unit in Western Europe!

Anyway, it's very good book.

One of my favourite books.
It is most certainly better written than most other pilot memoirs.
When the book was first published, paper rationing meant that
the dairy had to be heavily cut.
Having now been reprinted in full, it has more depth, then
the earlier publication.
There are wonderfully observant discriptions of wartime Britain,
amazing stories of what it is like to fly over occupied France,
bombing runs over German occupied airfields etc...
Pierre did not flee German occupied France, it was suggested
by his father that if he wanted to be part of history during the
early forties, he should think about joining up.
Since Pierre had clocked up many flying hours in Brazil and
California, he joined the RAF.

When I got my unabridged copy in April, I read all the new
additions, then I reread it right through, again.
The only two gripes I have are:
There should be more personal pictures and
since the book has 350 pages now,when I got to the end,
it was still not enough, I wanted to read more....

Pierre Clostermann was a great WW II ace and is a incredible writer. His Big Show book has been translated in to many languages, including portuguese. He would be proud of it, once he was actually brazilian born, in the city of Curitiba, Brasil.
Son of french parents in official duty in my country, he moved back to France, soon following fleding to UK.
I had read other of his books, but my 30 years old hardcover "O Grande Circo" is still my favour one. Looks thick, but the pages literally fly in front of you, as like magic he puts you, the reader, in the cockpit flying with him, as it was all possible to have Spitfires, Typhoons and Tempests biplaces.
If you like WW II, all those planes, and a report written like a romance about those difficult years, I strongly recommend you getting a copy of this book.

This is one of the most memorable read that I have. No, I do not still have the reprint, but I do have my old yellowed Ballantine copy from the 70s. This is one of those books that are told in such a way that you have difficulty putting it down, even now, I still occasionally go back to read parts of it. Only yesterday, I went back to this book to read a small excerpt from Antoine de St. Exupery's "Pilotte de Guerre". As I was looking into the discovery of St. Exupery's P38 Lightning, finally found off Marseille just this year. Pierre Clostermann is as gifted a writer, as he is a fighter pilot. Anyway, now, to see if I can finally get myself a hardbound copy of The Big Show to last for the next 40 years..

I'm glad to see that Clostermann's book is re-printed, as my old Ballantine edition is worn thin.

If you want in-the-cockpit action, you'll find little to rival this memoir, which was compiled from Clostermann's letters to his father during the war. Clostermann began on Spitfire V's, when the going was tough; he ended in Tempests, when the going was even tougher!

Forgive Clostermann's ongoing error in referring to FW-190D's as Ta-152's: it's likely that he used the same terminology as the intelligence services.

I'm fifty. I read my first book on aerial warfare ("The Red Knight of Germany," by Floyd Gibbons) when I was eleven, and there aren't many books in the genre that I haven't read. In an impressive personal library is a tattered old paperback--Clostermann's "The Big Show." It's one of the best, and now you can enjoy it for yourself.