There was clearly an urgent need for such a device: early aircraft escape techniques, notes Nichol, “were rudimentary at best: strap on parachute and jump. This may result in small marks to the dustjacket and title page, please also bear in mind that each signature will be a little different from the one we show here. Nichol tells the remarkable tale of how the ejection seat was first conceived during the Second World War as countless lives were lost in accidents and in battle. John is a member of The Royal British Legion's Gulf War Group helping veterans with Gulf War Syndrome and a patron of the British Ex-service Wheelchair Sports Association.

In the wake of the war, that technological race to save aircrew lives using explosive seats continued at an incredible pace. In Germany, Heinkel had fitted their turbojet-powered fight He-280 with a catapult seat escape system, and on January 13 1942, the Luftwaffe’s Wolfgang “Bombo” Schenck became the first man to use an ejection seat in an emergency. Nichol is perhaps at his best in his account of the early work of the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company, the pioneering British manufacturer of ejection seats, whose products – as of the date of publication – have saved 7,681 lives.A few days later, having been beaten and tortured, images of Nichol and his pilot John Peters were broadcast around the world. It was partly due to the death of Squadron Leader William Davie, a 25-year-old test pilot who died after attempting to bail out of his Gloster Meteor in August 1943 – plummeting through the roof of a hangar at Farnborough – that prompted the Air Ministry finally to commission Martin to come up with a workable British system.

Nichol tells the story of the brave men who risked their lives testing those early devices, and interviewed the first British pilot to eject back in 1949, when ejection, from pulling the handle to being under the parachute, took thirty seconds. I had the notion,” wrote Martin, “that I wanted to design things and not be employed by anyone” – a fine ambition. before Monday 22nd May to be entered into The Tornado Lottery, a chance to win a colour printed large-format 4 x 6 feet banner of John Nichol's previous book 'Tornado'. We see how the technology was adapted when the prospect of crashing in North Vietnam was sometimes preferable to ejecting and risking capture; what happens to the body when it is catapulted from an aircraft under great force; how an ejectee can be rescued from enemy territory. Lastly, as I began the book I thought that this would make for an excellent recommendation for my friend’s son-in-law who flies off an American carrier and is due home on leave at Christmas.

The fact that he’d never designed or built a plane and had never even flown did not seem to deter him. As the author has had to be diplomatic in some areas, feelings run deep and memories are long, the book has a feel of 'now it can be told' just not completely.

As with his previous books, there are some less pleasant aspects of the story that some could be tempted to ‘sweeten’, or even brush over altogether, but it seems that due respect was given to the important part played by the not so pleasant aspects of the story, which is refreshing. No one would ever want to have to use an ejection seat, but thank goodness some people have – and have lived to tell the tale. That the two men survived their ordeal was due not only to their bravery and resilience but also – obviously – to the existence of aircraft ejection seats.He has written for The Times, The Mail on Sunday and The Observer and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs. Most works of popular narrative non-fiction could be written by anyone with a small amount of talent, as well as enough time, energy, commitment and a decent library. It was only after Baker died in 1942 during the test flight of a prototype fighter plane that Martin turned his thoughts to designing an ejection seat. He has made a number of TV documentaries with Second World War veterans, written for national newspapers and magazines, and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs. I especially liked the way several airmen’s and navigator’s stories were interwoven through the book as it progressed.