After the first stunning victories of Germany"s Parachute Corps, Churchill and other Allied leaders ordered the formation of their own paratroopers, copying the German model. The Red Devils, the Screaming Eagles, Les Paras and others based their equipment and reckless bravado on Germany"s "hunters from the sky," a highly successful group of soldiers until 1941, when their huge losses during the invasion of Crete reduced their effectiveness in the eyes of Hitler"s generals. Whiting tells the complete story of the Parachute Corps and their founder, General Kurt Student, who commanded the paratroopers on their initial victories in Europe, their Pyrrhic conquest of Greece, their mission to rescue Mussolini, and their last drop into Allied-surrounded territory.