In 1942, American World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker offered a bottle of bourbon to the first U.S. fighter pilot to break his record of 26 enemy planes shot down. Seizing on the challenge, General George Kenney promoted what they would come to call the "race of aces" as a way of boosting the spirits of his war-weary command in the battle against Japan. Telling the tale of this wild three-year sprint for fame and glory, the author of Indestructible follows five men who transformed themselves from farm boys and aspiring dentists into artists of the modern dogfight, yet still had to learn how to place selfless devotion over national accolades.