Though I have never thought of myself as a book collector, there are shelves in our house browsed so often, on so many rainy winter nights, that the contents have seeped into me as if by osmosis.

It was not only Biggles who soared into the sky in his aeroplanes – the imagination of every schoolboy in the world who devoured his exploits and adventures also took wing. He was every child’s hero, ...

Picking up the books you once loved as a child, it’s difficult to read them with the innocence and glee you once had – but it also shows you how far you have travelled since your youth After he ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

W E Johns in 1960, when Biggles was estimated to be the world's most popular hero for schoolboys Captain W E Johns's unfashionable hero deserves to soar again, says Neil Clark He fought and defeated ...

James Bigglesworth, famously known as Biggles, is the heroic British World War One pilot who appeared in a series of 98 young-adult books by prolific author W.E. Johns. Like the best fictional British ...

The daring adventures of Biggles and his chums Algy and Ginger spanned nearly 100 stories and entertained generations of children. But the heroic fighter pilot’s finest hour has never made it into ...

CAN a fictional hero change the course of world history? Captain, Major and later Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth, DSO, DFC, MC, arguably did. The intrepid airman more commonly known as Biggles, ...

A tidal wave of commentary on the First World War is about to break as we approach the 100th anniversary of its outbreak. Growing up in the 1950s, it was accounts of the Second World War that ...

4 Extra Debut. Alexander Armstrong explores the appeal of flying ace Biggles and examines the life of his creator, Captain WE Johns. From 2009. Show more Alexander Armstrong explores the lasting ...