Two Great Knights of Adventure was written by Jacques Mortane in 1936. Mortane was on friendly terms with both Marc Pourpe and Raoul Lufbery and wrote the book as a tribute to the two pilots, both of whom were killed inWWI.

Due to the access that Mortane had to these early aviators, this was the best work on their lives, but it was never translated into English and is long out of print.

American author and Lafayette Escadrille expert Dennis Gordon recently had the book translated into English and worked with Raoul Lufbery III to add significant new content via the Lufbery family archive (which accounts for roughly half of this new volume).

Marc Pourpe began working with aircraft in 1909, just after completing his schooling at Harrow. By 1911 he had attempted to construct his own aircraft from scratch and learned to fly, before receiving an official license. After receiving his license he began flying in races and exhibitions, first in France and then throughout the empire.

He met Raoul Lufbery in Calcutta in 1912 and brought on the young American as a mechanic. Both Pourpe and Lufbery flew in WWI. Pourpe was killed in a crash in 1914, while Lufbery went on to be one of the top aces in the Lafayette Escadrille. Lufbery was killed in 1918.[AuthorName]By Jacques Mortane, Dennis Gordon, and Raoul Lufbery III and Translated by Anne Errelis[/AuthorName][AuthorBio]Jacques Mortane was an aviation pioneer in his own right, and close personal friend to both Marc Pourpe and Raoul Lufbery. He exchanged letters with the pilots over several years, which provided him with a wealth of content for his book. He died in 1939.  
Dennis Gordon is a WWI scholar. His books include Quartered in Hell: The Story of the US North Russia Expedition Force of 1918–1919, Lafayette Escadrille Pilot Biographies, and The Lafayette Flying Corps.
Raoul Lufbery III is the great-nephew of Raoul Lufbery, the subject of this work. Raoul III is the primary custodian of the Lufbery family archive.[/AuthorBio][NumIllustration]160 b/w photos[/NumIllustration][CoAuthor][/CoAuthor][SubTitle]From the Birth of Aviation to the Lafayette Escadrille; 1909–1918[/SubTitle][ColorPattern]160 b/w photos[/ColorPattern]