Born in 1970, Tom Cooper is a native of Vienna, Austria, but traveling around the world has enabled him to establish contacts to numerous informed sources whose experiences are described in this book. An early fascination with military aviation from WWII onwards, has narrowed down to an interest in smaller air forces and conflicts. He is particularly knowledgeable on the Iran-Iraq War, about which he has researched extensively since the late 1980s, subsequently pursuing his work throughout Europe. He has authored several articles for various military aviation magazines.

Farzad Bishop is an Iranian-born aviation analyst and writer with years of experience and research, mostly on the airpower aspects of the recent Middle East conflicts, and his articles and observations have appeared in military aviation journals. His extensive research and insights, which have culminated in this current book, cover the chronology of the Iran-Iraq War, as well as strategies and tactics involved in the longest war of the twentieth century. They were augmented by some unique personal experience and encounters, as enriched this book in a manner not previously seen in any similar work. He now resides in Europe.