facts are described in an affectionate
and matter-of-fact manner shows how simple and unaffected the officer of those days was. Committed to flying and his country and taking risks for a national cause – the fighter pilot was a heroic,
romantic and dare-devilish figure who cast his imprint on the PAF in its heyday.

The tragedy of institutional decay that set in into the PAF is also recounted vividly. As we have watched our armed forces move from being venerated to being critiqued for their continuous political
interventions, we can understand how individuals have played a major role in institutional strengthening and decay. Haider shows us the invaluable contributions of air chiefs like Asghar Khan and Nur
Khan as well as their early successors. He also shows how the political machinations of certainair chiefs began the professional rot within the PAF. Describing the Attock Conspiracy case, and the
court martial that ensued, Haider describes the latter as "a virtual genocide of gallant fighter pilots, most of them with Sitara-e-Jurats pinned on their chests". We see the politicisation that
crept into the military, and understand why military heroes were gradually replaced by military villains in the eyes of the Pakistani nation.

Some myths about the 1965 and 1971 wars are also exposed. Haider of course was the decorated war hero of the 1965 war and he has critiqued the role of the GHQ leadership in both these wars. What is
fascinating is his assertion that the PAF did even better in the 1971 war with India than it had performed in 1965. According to him,