In November 1940, a remarkable prototype aircraft made its maiden flight from an airstrip north of London. Novel in construction and exceptionally fast, the new plane was soon outpacing the Spitfire, and went on to contribute to the RAF's offensive against Nazi Germany as bomber, pathfinder and night fighter. The men who flew it nicknamed this most flexible of aircraft 'the wooden wonder' for its composite wooden frame and superb performance. Its more familiar name was the de Havilland Mosquito, and it used lightning speed and agility to inflict mayhem on the German war machine.

From the summer of 1943, as Bomber Command intensified its saturation bombing of German cities, Mosquitos were used by the Pathfinder Force, which marked targets for night-time bombing, to devastating effect. Mosquito Men traces the contrasting careers of the young men of 627 Squadron, including that of Ken Oatley - last living member of an illustrious group - who flew twenty-two operations in Mosquitos as a navigator. David Price's atmospheric narrative interweaves the human stories of the crews of 627 Squadron with events in the wider war as the Allies closed in on Germany from the summer of 1944.

Mosquito Men is rich in evocative and technically authoritative accounts of individual missions flown by an aircraft that ranks alongside the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Lancaster as one of the RAF's greatest ever flying machines - and perhaps the most versatile warplane ever built.

For those fans of the Mosquito aircraft recently described by Rowland White, Mosquito Men will add the human element to this iconic plane.

David Price's early interest in aviation was inspired by days exploring deserted RAF airfields in his native Cumbria. He has written for many newspapers and magazines on military aviation and is the author of A Bomber Crew Mystery: The Forgotten Heroes of 388th Bombardment Group, and The Crew, the story of an Avro Lancaster crew during the Second World War.

The story of one of the most remarkable - and feared - British aircraft of the Second World War: the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito fighter-bomber.

Nicknamed the 'wooden wonder' for its balsawood frame, the two-man Mosquito excelled in several different roles, from reconnaissance to the bombing of sensitive priority targets. Following a Mosquito raid on the main Berlin broadcasting station on 30 January 1943, which succeeded in removing Hermann Goering from the airwaves, the Luftwaffe chief observed ruefully: 'It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy.' From the summer of that year, as RAF Bomber Command intensified its saturation-bombing campaign against German cities and industrial centres, Mosquitos were used by the RAF Pathfinder Force, which marked targets for night-time bombing, to potent and devastating effect.

David Price's involving and fast-paced narrative traces the contrasting wartime fortunes of a number of Mosquito crews, alongside which the development and operational history of the aeroplane (especially with the Pathfinder Force) forms a descant to the principal human narrative. Like the author's earlier book The Crew, Mosquito Men is rich in evocative and technically authoritative accounts of individual missions flown by an aircraft that ranks alongside the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Avro Lancaster as one of the RAF's greatest ever.