Arigi - Letec a hrdina, podnikatel a vynálezce, špion a nacista – Česal Aleš (2022)

Julius Arigi (1895–1981), a Czech German born in Děčín, is portrayed as a showman, bohemian, rebel, First World War flying ace, aviation entrepreneur and original inventor, as well as a man entangled with secret services and the Nazis. Surrounded throughout his life by beautiful women, he seemed to attract adventurous situations like a magnet. During the First World War, his outstanding skill as a pilot made him a genuine celebrity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the war, he began an aviation transport business in Mariánské Lázně. Wherever there were aircraft, Arigi was there too, and the law governing aviation was even changed because of him. Although author Aleš Česal does not overlook Arigi’s wartime fame, the book focuses mainly on the 1920s and 1930s, when his life became closely connected with Mariánské Lázně. Drawing on approximately 600 pages of archival documents, Česal presents contemporary accounts from both the Czechoslovak and German press, including the many scandals and controversies surrounding Arigi. This is the first comprehensive monograph devoted to Julius Arigi.