Book Description
Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler's doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes readers on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people.
Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller's Air Force band, which toured U.S. air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers. In 1943, an American bomber crewman stood only a one-in-five chance of surviving his tour of duty, twenty-five missions. The Eighth Air Force lost more men in the war than the U.S. Marine Corps.
The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America -- white America, anyway. (African-Americans could not serve in the Eighth Air Force except in a support capacity.) The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the "King of Hollywood," Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men.
The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland.
Strategic bombing did not win the war, but the war could not have been won without it. American
airpower destroyed the rail facilities and oil refineries that supplied the German war machine. The bombing campaign was a shared enterprise: the British flew under the cover of night while American bombers attacked by day, a technique that British commanders thought was suicidal.
Masters of the Air is a story, as well, of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed.
Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account of the world's first and only bomber war.
Customer Reviews:
Masters of the Air.......2007-09-11
A marvelous story about the WW II air war over Europe. Full of interesting details and descriptions. I have shared it with friends that did their 35 missions, and they concur.
The Story of the "Mighty Eighth".......2007-09-08
This well-written and exhaustively researched book chronicles the rise of the American Eighth Air Force from its early days in England to VE Day in 1945.
At the outset of the war, the British believed that night bombing was the best way to attack German cities and industry. However, once America entered the war, they chose a philosophy different from that of the British. The Americans believed that daylight precision strategic bombing was the only way to defeat the Germans. The British, on the other hand, still favored nighttime area bombing. This difference of opinion between the Americans and British was never really settled, but by combining the "round the clock" attacks of American planes during the day and British planes at night, the Germans faced an unending stream of planes and bombs.
When the Eighth flew their first mission in the fall of 1942, they could barely muster thirty planes, but at the end of the war, they were putting up well over one thousand, with several hundred fighter escorts as well. The German Luftwaffe could not match these incredible numbers of planes, and, despite such tactics as underground production and introducing the world's first jet fighter, there was little they could do to stop the Allied bombing.
Differences also existed between the British and Americans regarding target selection. The British favored carpet bombing Germany's cities with little or no regard for civilian casualties. The Americans favored targeting German industry (synthetic oil production, ball bearings, and transportation hubs). The Americans believed that the systematic destruction of the German economy would bring about surrender quicker than the British belief of "terror attacks" designed to break the will of the German people.
An interesting point made by the author is whether or not strategic bombing was effective against the Germans. A preponderance of the evidence would suggest that the answer to this question is "yes", but there are some compelling counter-points made in the book.
This is a fine work of aviation history. The book is well-researched and is easy to read and understand. Every aspect of the Allied bomber offensive in Europe is covered in great detail. The author also includes many personal testimonials from the men who flew the B-17s and B-24s against the Germans. An interesting chapter is also devoted to the Swiss government and how they treated "captured" Allied fliers. The terrifying incendiary raid on Dresden as well as the horrific destruction of Berlin is also told in vivid detail.
I give this fine book my highest recommendation. If you're looking for information on the Eighth Air Force and the air war over Europe, this is the book to read.
Does anyone at Simon & Schuster proofread?.......2007-09-04
Mr. Miller's book includes not only substantial research into prior publications but very interesting research based on letters and interviews he's found on his own. It's a good book. But if you're a member of the word police you'll be annoyed by the many proofreading errors. Here's a sample: "In the heavily defended Ruhr, with its permanent cloud of industrial smoke, the number was only in ten." (p.54) Should have been "within ten miles." Some errors are so simple a spell checker would have caught them: (p.199) "spining" for spinning. And there are some factual errors as well. Miller attributes contrails to wingtips. They're created by engines. It's much easier to criticize than to write. Still, S&S should have, with the several editors listed in the acknowledgments, caught the errors. I have no idea whether they have been corrected in the paperback.
The Unsung Heroes of The Eighth Air Force.......2007-08-26
This is an overdue tribute to those young men who gave their lives, in great numbers, fighting the air war over Germany in WWII.To those who think WWII was fought without major tatical errors, this book will be a revelation. In tribute to the kids who lost their lives in this bloody effort, everyone should be required to read this story. If you thought that service in the Air Force was a cake walk read this book.
EXCELLENT !!!.......2007-08-23
TRULY AN AMAZINGLY DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE AIR WAR IN EUROPE!! MANY FACTS NEVER HEARD BEFORE! THESE BOMBER BOYS WERE TRUE HEROES.
Book Description
For five years during the Second World War, the Allies launched a trial and error bombing campaign against Germany's historical city landscape. Peaking in the war's final three months, it was the first air attack of its kind. Civilian dwellings were struck by-in today's terms-"weapons of mass destruction," with a total of 600,000 casualties, including 70,000 children.
In The Fire, historian J& ouml;rg Friedrich explores this crucial chapter in military and world history. Combining meticulous research with striking illustrations, Friedrich presents a vivid account of the saturation bombing, rendering in acute detail the annihilation of cities such as Dresden, the jewel of Germany's rich art and architectural heritage. He incorporates the personal stories and firsthand testimony of German civilians into his narrative, creating a macabre portrait of unimaginable suffering, horror, and grief, and he draws on official military documents to unravel the reasoning behind the strikes.
Evolving military technologies made the extermination of whole cities possible, but owing, perhaps, to the Allied victory and what W. G. Sebald noted as "a pre-conscious self-censorship, a way of obscuring a world that could no longer be presented in comprehensible terms," the wisdom of this strategy has never been questioned. The Fire is a rare account of the air raids as they were experienced by the civilians who were their targets.
Customer Reviews:
Detailed German Viewpoint of the Air War; Inadequate Contextualization .......2007-07-19
In this "encyclopedia of pain", Friedrich elaborates on Allied bombing tactics, Nazi countermeasures, civil defense, etc. He goes city-by-city, giving the reader a German-history lesson before discussing its bombing.
Consider the forced laborers: "Poles and Ukrainians were considered the most loyal workers. Poles, marked with a `P' on their clothing, showed great attachment to their farmsteads and the livestock they cared for. Near Cologne, `two Poles rescued the livestock out of burning stalls despite the flames; they had to be protected all the while by the spray of the water hoses.'" (p. 430)
Friedrich includes ironies. He comments: "The Huns returned in modern times as a slang term for the Germans. Emperor Wilhelm II, in his brash manner, even referred to himself as one." (p. 223). The Trawniki (Ukrainian and Baltic collaborators), who earlier burned the bodies of Jews in massive pyres at such places as Treblinka, now put their expertise to use in the mass cremations of German bodies (p. 379). The V2 rockets claimed more lives in their construction than in their explosions (p. 113).
The behaviors of German civilians help the reader understand comparable actions by others under wartime conditions. Much has been made of the Poles' looting of recently-Jewish properties. Yet some 15,000 German civilians were sentenced to death for various antisocial acts, including looting (pp. 392-394).
Friedrich tiptoes around the Germans' choice of Hitler by pointing to all those German children killed by Allied bombing who couldn't even know what a Nazi was (p. 483). Nice try, but it won't fly (pardon the pun). Actions have consequences. When voters go to the polls, they fully understand that they are voting not only for their own future, but also for that of their co-nationals and, of course, their children. In MEIN KAMPF, the Fuhrer-to-be planned a large war against the Slavic east for lebensraum. By voting for Hitler, the Germans were also tacitly voting for the destruction of Slavic children. The German people had a choice about the precipitation of a new war; the Poles and other recipients of German aggression had no such choice.
Friedrich also under-emphasizes the precedent-setting conduct of German aerial warfare. He cites the bombing of Warsaw, including the strategy of using explosive bombs to drive people into their cellars, followed by incendiary bombing to suffocate (or burn) the people now trapped there (p. 50). However, the bombing of Poland dwarfed the subsequent horrors at Rotterdam, Coventry, and London. Already in the predawn hours of September 1, 1939, the Luftwaffe was slaughtering large numbers of Polish civilians in wholesale attacks on obviously nonmilitary targets (including hospitals and cultural shrines). In Warsaw alone tens of thousands of Polish civilians perished in three weeks of furious German overkill. Not until some 3 years into the war did a single Allied air raid cost the lives of 10,000 or more German or Japanese civilians! Friedrich mentions the Allied strafing of Germans (p. 128), but not the fact that the Luftwaffe habitually strafed columns of fleeing Polish civilians already back in 1939.
Friedrich elaborates on the destruction of libraries (pp. 472-479), notably the painful loss of over 2,000 incunabula in Berlin (p. 478), but again without adequate contextualization. After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans systematically burned all of the libraries and archives of Warsaw, causing the loss of some 13 million volumes, including some 500,000 irreplaceable ones. That, rather than the destruction of German libraries, was perhaps the greatest book-burning in history. Ditto for architecture: The retreating Germans didn't blow up the militarily-innocent cultural cities of Krakow and Czestochowa only for failing to complete the laying of the explosive charges before the unexpectedly-early advance of the Red Army.
Interesting WW1 perspective.......2007-06-27
Rather lengthy account of the result of Allied bombing in OF Germany during ww2. Graphic and dismal,yet sheds light on the terrible consequences of war.
Astonishing and Riveting.......2007-06-14
I am a WWII buff and have read an awful lot about the war generally and the firebombing campaigns in particular. But this book takes it to a new level, a riveting, highly depressing account of the intentional targeting and slaughtering of tens of thousands of civilians in an explicit effort to "weaken the will" of the German people and thus hasten the end of the war.
Churchill really comes across as the instigator of much of the detailed destruction of historic city centers, ancient churches and steeples, dams, water mains, you just about name it. Roosevelt is described by the author as "more humane" and mostly focused on the targeting of legitimate military and industrial targets.
But according to this book, the British worked for years with fire prevention specialists to devise the best method to destroy old and largely defenseless historic German cities. Careful attention was paid by the British to which buildings would burn fastest, how it would best be spread, which fire walls and water mains to destroy, and how to stop the fire from being put out in order to maximize civilian death and destruction. The author makes no real attempt to justify any of this, other than to say that the British were desperate and being bombed themselves.
Interesting facts - Churchill ordered from the US military a large quantity of anthrax, to be dropped on German cities, but the anthrax was set to arrive after the Allies landed on the continent, so the plan was disbanded.
New facts recounted of the horrific British destruction of the massive dams protecting the Ruhr river valley, leading to massive drowning, drought, and devastation of defenseless women and children living in villages downriver. The technology of firebombing, and the effects on the civilians who retreated to cellars, are all discussed in painful detail. Attention is paid to the great likelihood of dying that the British bombers knew went along with their dangerous missions, but the pilots are hardly described here as "heroes."
The book, however, lacks a narrative structure and could have been more crisply edited. It is simply a collection of death and destruction, intentional and targeted directly at civilians, with account after account of successful bombing raids and their effect on the historic treasures there were destroyed as a result -- along with the many many thousands of civilian dead.
This is a hard read, and I found myself reaching for someone or something to help me understand the moral equivalency of what I had been reading -- something to put it into perspective so you are not left with the sense that war is hell, and many war crimes were committed by the participants with no understanding of the whys or the moral justifications for same. For this book, it is the hows that are itemized in dark deadly detail.
Tom's Review.......2007-06-13
Very comprehensive review of the bombing of Germany during WWII, but not very readable.
I consider it to be a good reference book. Anyone seeking specific information or details about the bombing will probably find it in this book, if they look hard enough. And that's the problem. The wealth of information is not very well organized, making the narration hard to follow and a difficult read, even for this died-in-the-wool WWII buff.
Recommended, but a Partial Perspective.......2007-05-19
A different type of history, not a narrative history but an impressionistic one of the terrible effects of the Allied bombing in Germany on both the German public and cultural treasures. This book must be balanced by books such as Robin Neilland's "The Bomber War" and Donald Miller's "Masters of the Air." The U.S. Eighth Air Force tried daylight precision bombing for the initial period of their operations, but in the Schweinfurt raid they lost 60 bombers (600 air crew). This loss rate could not continue, so they switched to area bombing, following the British Bomber Command example. This is the only possible strategy they could have adopted. Bombing was just not accurate enough in those days (unlike today) to be able to precisely hit military targets. The results were devastating on German civilians and precious cultural treasures like churches and books, but no other means of attack would have worked. This only emphasizes the great tragedy of war and how much it should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Another point the author makes is that at a certain point Germany was beaten, why did the bombing continue? Answer: the government would not surrender, and the fight was brutal until near the very end. After the Germans started the second world war within two generations, the Allies insisted that Germany be totally defeated, unlike the WW I armistice. Even after the WW II surrender there was armed action by the Werewolf organization. Disclosure: my father was career U.S. Air Force and served in WWII, though in the Pacific. I've worked as a civilian for the Air Force for over 20 years. I've never met anyone who hated war more than those who have fought them, the soldiers who bear the brunt of the action. But sometimes the human tragedy of war is the only choice if tyrants are not to rule the world. The author realizes that, he's not a pacifist. We can join him in mourning the loss of life and cultural treasures, but not in his unrealistic view that an alternative course of action could have been taken. Certainly, read this book, but don't stop there if you want the full history on these tragic issues.
Book Description
The never-before-told story of the American pilots--idealists, adventurers, romantics--who joined the RAF before America entered the war in order to fight Hitler and save Britain
By the summer of 1940 World War II had been under way for nearly a year. Hitler was triumphant and planning an invasion of England. But the United States was still a neutral country and, as Winston Churchill later observed, "the British people held the fort alone." A few Americans, however, did not remain neutral. They joined Britain's Royal Air Force to fight Hitler's air aces and help save Britain in its darkest hour.
The Few is the never-before-told story of these thrill-seeking Americans who defied their country's neutrality laws to fly side-by-side with England's finest pilots. They flew the lethal and elegant Spitfire, and became "knights of the air." With minimal training and plenty of guts they dueled the skilled pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe in the blue skies over England. They shot down several of Germany's fearsome aces, and were feted as national heroes in Britain. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation. At war's end, just one of the "Few" would be alive. The others died flying, wearing the RAF's dark blue uniform-each with a shoulder patch depicting an American eagle. As Winston Churchill said, "Never in the fieldof human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
Customer Reviews:
Very, very interesting........2007-09-03
I learned much about the "Battle of Britain" and the eight Americans (one was listed on the RAF rosters as Canadian) who faught in it. Occuring before the US entered the war, this account is about the people who defended Britain from Hitler's attempt to destroy the RAF and London before invading the island. Hitler almost succeeded but for the heroism of the entire RAF including the eight Americans who, against the laws if the US enlisted and fought. Well written. Battle accounts are riviting. I highly recommend this book.
God Bless You Boys, Every One, For Your Sacrifice to Freedom.......2007-06-23
Well, as I come here to review this awesome book, I see that many have beaten me to it! And that, certainly, is a very good thing! This shows that I am not alone in trumpeting this book to you.
Kershaw is an excellent author, and I shall be seeking out his other books for my library, I'm sure. Through his prose, these sturdy, brave young men come to life again that you may experience their story, and their sacrifice that freedom should still remain throughout the world. Have you ever wondered "I wonder how close Hitler came to taking over the world, really?" Well, this will give you the answer, straight up. Had England lost the Battle of Britain, we would, for sure, be living in a very different world today. Yet, while these eight very brave young Americans were risking life and limb fighting across the Atlantic, we were twiddling our thumbs and looking the other way. What did it take to wake us up? One Sunday morning 9 miles west of Honolulu...that Sunday--December 7, 1941.
I recommend this book so strongly to anyone who is a history lover, or interested in WWII, or The Battle of Britian, or anyone who enjoys the self-affirming "rightness" of those who truly give of themselves, and stand up for what they believe in. Again, "God Bless You Boys, Every One" for standing up and being counted as true heroes against Hitler's Nazi Scourge.
It Was Their Last Full Meassure of Devotion.......2007-06-05
They came from all walks of life. Each with his own personal story and reason for being there; but, the one theme that ran constant throughout. They cherished freedom and love for country even if it was not their own.
Alex Kershaw documents the courage and tenacity of 8 American flyers who defied the odds by circumventing America's neutrality to become " The Few" to serve in the RAF prior to, during, and after the Battle of Britain. Their story has, for the most part, been only a footnote in the titanic struggle that took place in the skies over England. The author, known for his recognition of near-forgotten men in WWII, has once again featured the contributions of men, undistinguished but for the fact that they forsook the safety and security of their country to answer a higher calling, namely to aid in the vanquishing of a world tyrant. The defeat of the German Luftwaffe was the first step in achieving that goal.
The story of the legendary two time olympic gold medalist, William Fiske, was particularly fascinating. The man had everything one could hope for or dream of; but instead, chose to devote his last days to what was then thought of as a losing cause. In addition to his considerable athletic achievements, he is now remembered as the first American airman to die in combat flying for the RAF in Europe.
Prime Minister Winston Churchhill said it most eloqently and appreciatively when he stated: " Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. " This was in marked contrast to the cowardly utterings pacifist Charles Lindbergh and the defeatist ambassador Joseph Kennedy.
Mr. Kershaw keep writing! The noble warriors of WWII deserve the best and you have neither forgotten or forsaken them.
Wow.......2007-04-04
I couldn't put it down! The Battle of Britain was unbelievable and what these pilots did was beyond belief.A book not for the faint of heart. A book for every pilot to read. A wonderful history lesson,all true and not a Hollywood movie.
Th best war history of the year.......2007-03-13
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Both the writing and the storylinewere excellent. My wife, who normally does't read history of any kind, and very little non-fiction, read this book avidly.
Customer Reviews:
Nicest aircrafts book I've never seen........2007-03-09
I think that everything has been said if you read the other reviews but it was not possible for me not to tell my happiness when I discover it in reality. I was relly surprised about the beautiful illustrations and the size of this book, it's simply HUGE !
A must-have for any aircraft enthusiast.
Best of the best..........2005-02-23
I bought this book new from the Smithsonian Museum bookstore when I was just a kid. Now some 20-odd years later it still sits on the shelf right behind my desk, and I still frequently comb through its pages with the same enthusiasm I had when it was new. I will never let this book out of my possesion.
It's so valuable to me I had to find another copy for my business partner and fellow R/C fanatic so that he wouldn't have to keep borrowing mine! ;D ...that's why I decided to drop my 2-cents in here.
If you are an airplane buff, or more importantly, if you have any passion for the top planes of WWII, this book is not optional. You MUST have it. Period. Once you open it, you will understand what I am saying.
Must Have for WWII Aviation Enthusiasts.......2001-11-08
If you enjoy WWII aircraft, and appreciate the breath taking detail and accuracy of Rikyu Watanabe illustrations, you must have this book. I found my copy 3 years ago at OshKosh, and have been offered (...)for it - no way was I parting with it. It is, without question, the finest piece of reference / art work on these 12 aircraft I have ever seen. Vet, IFR Priv. pilot, R/C aircraft modeler.
Incredible!.......2000-12-15
I'm a WWII airplanes enthsiast, and this book has filled all my expectations. The text, the scaled drawings, the fold-out panels, everithing is exceptional in this complete guide of WWII airplanes. The drawings of this book are incredibly detailed, and if you're meticulous, you'll never find a book like this. My grandfather was a WWII pilot and became nostalgic when he saw the plane he had flown.
Lots of nostalgia.......2000-07-04
In my opinion, the most beautiful book of WWII aircraft which has ever been published.
I have flown the F4U-5NL Bu.No. 124511 found in the picture on page 253 with Ens. Cawley's name on the side. He was one of our squadron mates in VC-4, NAS Atlantic City in the early 'fifties.
Brings back many fond memories. Highly recommended to all aviators and aviation enthusiasts.
J.D. Williams Lcdr. USNR (Ret)
Amazon.com
Journalist Mark Bowden delivers a strikingly detailed account of the 1993 nightmare operation in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead and many more wounded. This early foreign-policy disaster for the Clinton administration led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a total troop withdrawal from Somalia. Bowden does not spend much time considering the context; instead he provides a moment-by-moment chronicle of what happened in the air and on the ground. His gritty narrative tells of how Rangers and elite Delta Force troops embarked on a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid only to find themselves surrounded in a hostile African city. Their high-tech MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters had been shot down and a number of other miscues left them trapped through the night. Bowden describes Mogadishu as a place of Mad Max-like anarchy--implying strongly that there was never any peace for the supposed peacekeepers to keep. He makes full use of the defense bureaucracy's extensive paper trail--which includes official reports, investigations, and even radio transcripts--to describe the combat with great accuracy, right down to the actual dialogue. He supplements this with hundreds of his own interviews, turning Black Hawk Down into a completely authentic nonfiction novel, a lively page-turner that will make readers feel like they're standing beside the embattled troops. This will quickly be realized as a modern military classic. --John J. Miller
Book Description
The acclaimed New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down is "a shocking account of modern warfare . . . gripping and horrifying" (San Francisco Chronicle)
Destined to become a classic of war reporting, Black Hawk Down is Mark Bowden's brilliant account of the longest sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War. On October 3rd, 1993, about a hundred elite U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take an hour. Instead they found themselves pinned down through a long and terrible night fighting against thousands of heavily armed Somalis. The following morning, eighteen Americans were dead and more than seventy had been badly injured.
Drawing on interviews from both sides, army records, audiotapes, and videos (some of the material is still classified), Bowden's minute-by-minute narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern combat ever written--a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle.
"Black Hawk Down ranks among the best books ever written about infantry combat. . . . A descendent of books like The Killer Angels and We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young."-- Bob Shacochis, The New York Observer
"If Black Hawk Down were fiction we'd rank it up there with the best war novels: The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer, or The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien."-- Tom Walker, The Denver Post
"Stands in a league with Shelby Foote's stirring Civil War Diary, Shiloh."-- Jim Haner, The Baltimore Sun
"One of the most gripping and authoritative accounts of combat ever written."-- Kirk Spitzer, USA Today
"Amazing . . . One of the most intense, visceral reading experiences imaginable."-- The Philadelphia Inquirer
A New York Times bestseller for 14 weeks
Bowden's Black Hawk Down series, which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer was awarded the Overseas Press Club's Hal Boyle Award for best foreign reporting
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and revealing.......2007-08-29
The beginning of this book kinda made me want to be a soldier but as it got into the actual horrors of war it seriously scared a strong sense of reality into me. Anyone who is thinking of joining the military should read this book first. Not that I'm trying to discourage people but just that they should take it seriously and not just think of it as an easy way to pay off school loans or something.
Anyway, the book is fantastic. Get it and read it.
One of the greatest combat books I have ever read.......2007-08-16
This book is great. It tells about the Battle of the Black Sea extremly well with several different perspectives. From stories of some of the Delta opperators to the Habr Gidr clan members fighting them, this book tells it very, very well. Only Flags of Our Fathers rivals Black Hawk Down. If you like combat books, I highly recommend this book.
Great Story Highly Recommended .......2007-07-13
Let me incorporate, by reference the many well earned accolades of the other reviews. This is an exceptional book and deserves the praise. However, there are some limitations.
The first is that two men watching the same person do nothing more than walk down the street may have perceptions of the event that would make it appear that they observed two different events, the second is that some of the intimate observations of those who fought there may have been reserved during interviews and the third is that Bowden may have received some politically correct guidance from above. Finally there is something enlightening in the unedited words of some of the experienced participants.
MSG Howe, a legend in the Special Forces community wrote an excellent book , Leadership and Training For the Fight. Deliberately misses the well edited polish as he uses presents personal combat experience to illustrate the key subjects he is discussing. Much of the action is on the ground as a participant in what became knows as Blackhawk Down. Howe discusses the critical differences in between the Rangers and Special Forces as they fought together. The second additional reference are the two books by Durant, In The Company of Heroes and Night Stalkers.
One of the messages of the other books on the subject which directly conflicts with the conclusions of Blackhawk Down is the impact of the removal of the AC-130's from the area had on the operation. The theater commander was denied the AC-130 gunships and American armor. Bowden repeats the Washington spin that the gunships would have been ineffective in the urban environment. However, Durant notes the huge psych impact when the gunships were returned to the fight a fee days later, while he was still held prisoner. It is further reported that the Secy of Defense came down to the SF camp once they were home to apologize for the removal of the gunships and soften the blow that there would be no formal after action report.
The performance of the gunships in several firefights in Afghanistan clearly demonstrated that they could work very closely with troops on the ground who were vastly outnumbered and fighting for survival within stone throwing distance. There also no doubt that the Little Birds and gunships could have been used together.
Durant and Howe provide the framework to understand the tactics and mission of those on the ground and in the air on those fateful days.
All three books leave the reader stunned at the quality, dedication and effectiveness of those who serve our country.
First Rate Military History -- move over Cornelius Ryan.......2007-07-12
This rates as one of the best military histories I have ever read.
Mark Bowden is scrupulously careful, balanced, and thorough. He presents a very complex incident with color, passion, and detail, cataloging the sounds, smells, and visuals of this frightful engagement.
He allows the participants among American and Somali soldiers and noncombatants to tell their own stories in their own words. Occasionally he steps back and presents historical/political background to let the reader see this "Battle of the Black Sea" in context.
The movie version (Ridley Scott directing) was exceptionally well done, fast-paced, fierce, gritty, and like the battle itself, ultimately very sad and leaving a sense of futility, given that the U.S. scampered out of Somalia shortly after the battle. Yet the movie was light and almost careless of many details compared with this book.
Move over, Cornelius Ryan.
Unbelievable.......2007-04-30
I'm so upset that I watched the movie first. In my opinion the book is 100x's better and I'm surprised to see how many story lines that they have changed. The details just make you shake your head in shock. In the movie they didn't really mention (I can't recall) Air Force Combat Controller's. Honestly if it wasn't for them there would have more casualties. It's an amazing modern war story that won't put you to sleep. I enjoyed the pictures at the end of the book. I like to put names and faces together.
A great read from beginning to end.
Book Description
Professional materials needed for a successful career as an Air Force officer from cadet to general, both active duty and reserves. Some of the topics covered: * U.S. Air Force organizations and types of assignments * Duties and responsibilities * Privileges, benefits, restrictions * Customs and courtesies * Career development and promotion * Pay and allowances * Command and leadership * Uniforms and insignia * Complete data on Air Force installations worldwide * Extensive references to regulations and other information
Customer Reviews:
Officer's Guide Review.......2007-09-22
Excellent source of information, bit of a dry read though... definately a must have for all current/future AF officers.
On Being An Air Force Officer.......2004-09-13
I'll sheepishly admit that I'm not one for dry guidebooks, history texts and the like; they usually put me to sleep. However, I found the "Air Force Officer's Guide" fascinating. The book starts right off with issues of conduct, leadership, and responsibility, beautifully setting the tone for the rest of the material. This is almost certainly idealized to a certain extent, but that's rather the point, I think--this is meant as a guide of behavior to be aspired to.
There's information in here about professional development, training, education, health, fitness, promotion, and the officer evaluation system. I think this material gives a clear picture of what the author believes officers can do to best serve their country as well as themselves. The book stresses that officers must be willing to take every opportunity to advance their education, through personal efforts as well as structured training, and it gives many suggestions for how to go about this.
One of my favorite sections covers "The Air Force Way," delving into AF cultures and traditions and explaining the differences between military courtesies and customs of the service. There's a nifty section explaining all the little details of uniforms and insignia and how to wear them properly, including diagrams and drawings. There's even a section on social life in the AF, and the book discusses the general issue of the AF as a career, and the rights, privileges, and restrictions that go with it. I think the book does get rather dry as it moves onward into issues of pay, leave time, medical benefits, retirement, and so on, but then it would be a miracle if it didn't.
This is a handy multi-purpose book if you have any interest in the Air Force, whether or not you're actually a part of it. Its stated purpose is to help officers in their careers. I think it would be a great way for someone who's thinking of joining up to get a feel for whether or not it's their sort of thing. It's a good way for people to gain a new appreciation for the kind of work, dedication, and discipline it takes to be a part of the armed services. And it's fantastic reference material for a military buff, a writer doing research for a project, or even a roleplayer who wants to be able to get in the right mood (and design a realistic character) for a military-based roleplaying game.
Average customer rating:
- Tops of Clouds
- My profession's "bible"
- One of a kind aviation book...
- A memorable memoir
- A landmark in aviation writing
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Fate is the Hunter
Ernest K. Gann
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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ASIN: 0671636030 |
Book Description
"This book is an episodic log of some of the more memorable of the author's nearly ten thousand hours aloft in peace and (as a member of the Air Transport Command) in war. It is also an attempt to define by example his belief in the phenomenon of luck--that 'the pattern of anyone's fate is only partly contrived by the individual.'" (The New Yorker)
"This fascinating, well-told autobiography is a complete refutation of the comfortable cliche that 'man is master of his fate.' As far as pilots are concerned, fate (or death) is a hunter who is constantly in pursuit of them...there is nothing depressing about FATE IS THE HUNTER. There is tension and suspense in it but there is great humor too. Happily, Gann never gets too technical for the layman to understand." (Saturday Review)
Customer Reviews:
Tops of Clouds.......2007-08-06
After reading FATE IS THE HUNTER by Elmer K. Gann, I will never think of the men and women that pilot commercial planes as "glorified bus drivers", because they stand upon the shoulders of the men that Gann describes in this fictionalized biography. The book is a series of stories that takes a young commercial pilot (presumably Gann) in the 1930's, from training on DC-2's to the beginning of the commercial jet era.
Gann uses "fate" as the thread that goes through this book, the only thing in common with flight today is the air surface to weight ratio and pilot training; still "fate", not luck, has much to do with the survival of man and machine; then as now. The book opens with an altitude adjustment of 50 feet on a night flight, because not maintaining proper altitude represented "sloppy flying", moments later another airliner flies above them at the altitude they just left. This was before collision avoidance systems and sophisticated air traffic control; the pilot relied upon his skill and training.
The book is filled with adventure, from trying to find a remote village in the Amazon jungle, using vague maps and landmarks above a sea of green, to flying in fog so thick and low that a cable is dropped from the plane to determine what is being flown over. These are the days when there were no sophisticated weather reports, navigation was by radio transmitter, a strong signal meant you were going in the right direction. Gann flew the Burma route during the WWII flying a DC-3 or rather nursing them over the Himalayas and also the European theater flying out of Nova Scotia and Greenland. He and his fellow pilots and copilots flew the "milk runs" between Cleveland and Columbus or Chicago to New York learning the route by landmark and hamlets, knowing what weather to expect given the season, discovering the idiosyncrasies of equipment and the people he flew with and relied upon; navigating by the stars on night flights over water.
Gann lists pilots that he flew with who didn't make it as a tribute in the beginning of the book. There is no question that the early days of commercial aviation were difficult and dangerous, but Gann and his comrades showed us the tops of clouds and paved the way for the airway system we have today.
My profession's "bible".......2007-05-01
As an airline captain, I will occasionally ask my first officers if they have read this book. While most say 'yes', a few haven't. Some haven't even heard of it. I instruct them, no, command them to order and read it immediately! Every aviator needs to read this book, the 'bible' of our profession in order to understand our heritage, and what we have been spared. Flying is now orders of magnitude safer than it was in Gann's time, thanks in part to the courage of aviators like him, but also to the engineers he so disparages in the book! But, who can blame him after one changes all the spark plugs in three out of four engines to a useless experimental type. When I taxi by the American Airlines hangars at LaGuardia, I imagine Gann running up each engine after his close call, embarrassing the nerdy engineer who made a nearly fatal mistake. That engineer's more intelligent colleagues, however, also invented deicing equipment that works, reliable navigation, weight and balance and performance rules that prevent accidents, and maintenance procedures that head off trouble. I, and all my passengers and co-workers owe our lives and livelihoods to the brave pioneers that made it so.
This book is spellbinding. My copy is well-dog eared. Yours will be too!
One of a kind aviation book..........2007-02-23
Ernie Gann's memory abides in a special place of honor within the hearts and minds of aviators of which I happen to be one. What fliers appreciate is Gann`s ability to articulate their feelings so eloquently. He is one of them but what sets him apart and what they revere is that Gann wrote so well about flight. It is not surprising then that fliers hold him in such high regard, but the real testament to his skill as a writer comes from the acclaim of others outside this fraternity.
You don't have to be a pilot to appreciate Gann's work. It is sufficient to understand humankind's willingness to push the limits, all along knowing there is a risk to be taken. Man has always been willing to take a chance "so long as [he] insists on striving for progress." (xv) Gann, through his gift of prose, carries the reader along, not as a passenger, but as an involved observer. That is Gann's talent. The reader believes he is there with him. You don't have to be a pilot to understand Gann. He doesn't challenge you with technicalities. He presents situations whose outcome hangs by a thread. Is it fate, luck, skill, or fortune that determines the outcome? Whatever, Gann is a survivor.
In the past, as it is to this day, flight is inherently dangerous and unforgiving. The danger is mitigated in many ways. One way is told in the very first chapter captioned "The Tip of the Arrow." Gann descends his aircraft fifty feet to be precisely on his assigned altitude. By this act of professionalism he avoids a near miss when an unreported aircraft flashes by mere feet away. If he had not descended moments before, they would have collided. Striving for perfection, Gann saved their lives. "Those fifty additional sloppy feet held only a few minutes previously -so insignificant then - are now revealed as the pinion of our lives." (13) Gann, the professional pilot, saves himself and his airplane. Is that fate? Luck? Good fortune? Or is flying a game of chance that is played until your number comes up? In Fate is the Hunter, by telling of his experiences in nearly ten thousand hours of flight, Gann leaves it to us to make the final interpretation for his survival. However he gives us some clues to his thoughts. He writes "at least let us admit that the pattern of anyone's fate is only partly contrived by the individual" (384) What if the other aircraft, flown by another equally professional pilot, also had descended fifty feet? Would that have been fate or bad luck? We would never know.
Unquestionably Gann tempted fate many times, but not recklessly. He is not a daredevil. His good fortune in Fate is the Hunter though contrasts with that of many friends and companions who were not so lucky. He lists their names in the beginning pages of the book. (v-ix) Was their demise preordained? Gann doesn't tell us exactly. Instead we read, without a lot of detail, that their deaths were due to an "unknown cause", a "radio range failure", a vagary of the "seniority system", or, to explain the unexplainable, "pilot error". Humans err but is a human error by itself fate? Or is it carelessness? Or stupidity? Or, given the circumstances like a wing falling off, simply unbelievable? Flying, we know, has little regard for the careless or the foolish. One thing is certain from reading Fate is the Hunter, the line between life and death can be very fine indeed.
Even with the best of human performance possible, the odds against survival may be so overwhelming as to be insurmountable. It is then that true heroism is necessary. Heroism is not ever mandated or demanded of someone by others. Heroism comes from within. It is the disregard for personal safety or salvation that propels action against overwhelming odds. This is not Ernest Gann. He doesn't hold himself out (nor the other pilots that he holds in high regard) as heroes though some of us may believe they were. Gann writes about this in the following paragraph.
"Line pilots do not live in an atmosphere of heroism, for that is a very temporary condition better suited to wildly inspired moments in which the hero hardly knows what he is doing. The pilots know what they are doing, right or wrong, always. They wear courage like a comfortable belt, rarely giving it a thought. But a line pilot is wary all of the time, which is an entirely different matter. To be continuously aware you must know what to be wary of, and this sustained attitude can come only with experience. Learning the nature and potentialities of the countless hazards is like walking near quicksand." (109)
What Gann experiences in his career are situations that require a cool head and good judgment. "The timid, super-cautious pilot is not necessarily the safest. Coupled with knowledge, a touch of boldness is required" (52) Gann will take a calculated risk, but the decision is based on his knowledge and experience.
A high standard must be maintained. In the role of an airline pilot, Gann recognizes he is entrusted with a duty. Passengers place their trust in the airline, the airplane and him. Quite simply, his is an occupation unlike any other. The cockpit of an aircraft in flight is a place that most people normally do not get to see. In our journey with Gann we are invited into his world as he progresses from being an apprentice just prior to World War II until he becomes a seasoned veteran as a Captain of his own ship. Ernest Gann doesn't tell us explicitly, but the reader begins to sense the Captain's responsibility for his passengers, his crew and his company. This burden is not carried lightly by Gann or the other pilots. There are a couple that Gann believes do not deserve his or our respect. These he treats with disdain. However he is not malicious and so he doesn`t use their real names. To the despotic Alessandro, he wished bad luck but nonetheless remains unscathed. The pretender "Captain" Dudley, who didn't have a license, was at first pitied, then loathed. After getting properly licensed Dudley again talks himself into command of another airliner which crashes. He survives but some passengers do not.
Four decades have passed since Gann wrote Fate is the Hunter and a few more years than that since Gann lived the events he so vividly describes in his book. From today's perspective on aviation, Fate is the Hunter opens a window to another time. Unlike the present jet age, all of Gann's flying was in propeller transports - DC 2s, DC 3s, the Lockheed Loadstar, the C-54, and the C-87. In many ways it was a more challenging time. Navigation aids and flight instruments were much less sophisticated than now. Still they were light years ahead of what was available just a short time previously. Yet, while the technology was more primitive, the human factors remain remarkably similar in the present. A pilot faces the hazards of winter snow and summer heat then just as he does today. A schedule is kept just like it is today. Fuel may be critical then as now. Seniority still remains the key to advancement. Pay is determined by the minute of flight though credit time figures into pay computations today. Remarkably the report time of one hour before scheduled departure is the same today as it was for Gann. When airborne there are still the hours of droning along with only routine tasks to complete but always having to be alert for any inkling of an impending problem. I can relate to a common request from passengers interested in exactly where they were. For me the request came via the interphone and is relayed by a flight attendant. In Gann's time it was probably directly from the passenger himself. Gann notes this was "information we seldom had ready at hand" and would "assume a solemn mien and point out a town, or village -anyone visible would do - and...would say. `That is White Pigeon.`" (176) I wish I had thought of that! Thankfully though, copilots today don't have to load passenger baggage any more. Jets are so large we would never leave the gate waiting for them to finish loading! Gann has unintentionally created an historical classic encompassing an important era in aviation.
Gann's description of the aircraft he flew contrasts remarkably with
the aircraft in use now. At the time however they were the best that were available. In one episode the regularly scheduled equipment, a DC-3, is grounded for maintenance. A DC-2 is substituted for the regularly scheduled flight from Nashville to New York with Columbus, Ohio as the alternate. The flight proves to be Gann's first encounter with icing and almost his last flight, period. They encounter heavy icing and battle deteriorating sky conditions until finally arriving at Cincinnati where the weather has remarkably cleared. The fortuitous substitution of a DC-2 saved them. The DC-3 would not have been able to stay in the air carrying the same load of ice. As for the C-87 which he later flew Gann says it "could not carry enough ice to chill a highball."(214) These details provide invaluable information for aviation historians.
Inevitably, in reading Fate is the Hunter , the reader reaches a point where he might ask himself, is all this true? Gann says "insofar as one mind can reveal a vast and extraordinary complex endeavor, all the facts and events described are true." (xvi) I believe him. In nearly ten thousand hours of flying an endless array of situations are possible. Given the time frame, the aircraft he flew, and the conditions he encountered it is entirely within reason for to him have lived the experiences as he describes them. His logbook would be proof. All pilots have one. One thing is sure, if his story is not true, the people he writes about (those that have survived) would not have let him get away with it!
I only have one question. That has to do with "unporting" (368) That is a term as unfamiliar to me as it was to Gann when he was told about it. In the episode that describes the condition, Gann had "arranged the only possible combination of power, speed, and weight which would blockade the chances of unporting" (369) preventing loss of control. Another airplane crashed because of the problem but Gann was unaware except for "a certain trembling" (365) He was only told of the danger later after he came back to work from vacation. Personally I put this in an "ignorance is bliss" category. There are many things beyond the control of the pilot and if you can't do anything about it, it is not worth worrying or knowing about. Even if Gann had known of the problem it is unlikely they would have been able to determine the exact flight requirements to prevent it from occurring. That was only figured out later. Aerodynamics is not my forte but someone else may be able to shed some light on "unporting."
How does Gann's story end? In the end I think he becomes discouraged. He is caught by the seniority trap. A pilot, once he begins with a company, is locked into that company's seniority list. If he were to leave and come back later he would have to go to the bottom of the list and start all over again. Gann left American to pursue another flying opportunity. When that business failed, he was not inclined to start over again as a copilot. He became a writer.
Like a wealthy gambler, he knew when to quit.
A memorable memoir.......2006-11-28
Ernest Gann's autobiographical work is one of the very best examples of the genre ever. The settings are all over the world, but are always in flight. Each chapter is a vignette from his time as a commercial flyer during the late 1930s, '40s, and early 1950s. Every measured word is a pleasure, taking the reader into Gann's cockpit and indeed, into his state of mind. Gann's prose is deceptive in its brevity and simplicity. The proof is in the success of his purpose, which seems to have been to allow his reader to see, hear, and almost smell the experiences of a working aviator. Such a flyer's average hour on the job has been famously described as "59 minutes of utter boredom punctuated by sixty seconds of sheer terror." Gann's exquisite prose captures all sixty minutes of such hours, and does so with seeming effortlessness, but really with eloquence and elegance. Read this book if for no other reason than to study descriptive narrative at its best. You will want to add it to your personal bookshelf, and pick it up once in a while, as I do, just for the pleasure it affords.
A landmark in aviation writing.......2006-11-13
I've never read a bad Ernest Gann book, but the autobiographical FATE IS THE HUNTER marks the top of his form, followed by BLAZE OF NOON, etc.
Bill Brown
Book Description
Although many books have been published about the B-29, none has been an in-depth look, with most being either superficial pictorials or focusing on the bombing campaigns, particularly the incendiary attacks and atomic bombings. This book, using rare, previously unexplored sources, intends to provide the definitive look at the bomber and crew, detailing every facet for the air enthusiast, historian and modeler. The author was granted rare access to the Pima Air & Space Museum's restored B-29 "Sentimental Journey" for inspection and photography, resulting in the most extensive photographic documentation of the B-29 ever published. The Pima Museum's archives, filled with B-29 technical and crew manuals also gave the author extensive information that had not been previously published. These sources, the author's extensive personal library, and microfilm resources enabled the author to produce this comprehensive look at the bomber and its crew in the context of the bomber's development and operational use. It is truly monumental in scope, both in words and photos.
Customer Reviews:
In Defense of a Labor of Love and Years of Research (See BillH review).......2007-08-28
Like many of my fellow aviation writers, this B-29 book and my seven other books (amateurs write one book for a vanity press) were done as a labor of love and the many years of research and writing certainly are not equally remunerated monetarily. So when reading a review such as that by BillH that does not comment on the quality and quantity of the text but focuses on the quality of hundreds of B&W and original color photos and on the rare original B-29 drawings and charts; it is much like saying that someone's baby is ugly.
The B&W photos originally showed their 60 years as did the drawings and charts from yellowed manuals. Many of the photos and drawings were actually enhanced from the originals. One manual had a bullet hole through it! As for using a professional photographer, this was not allowed by Pima and would be exceeding expensive (as I found when engaging a professional photographer for my daughter's wedding!). Access to the aircraft was only allowed for a very short period of time during closing hours. With the bomber's limited interior space, lighting considerations, framing, and focusing were very difficult. The quality of the drawings and photos in this book certainly equals or exceeds that of the only other available B-29 books (e.g. Crowood (200 pages), Warbird Tech (96 pages), and B-29 Combat Photo Diary (160 pages, paperback).
Portions of the text, are paraphrased from original B-29 manuals and official publications and documents, and put into layman's terms as that method best explains the various too technical aspects and components of the bomber. From what other sources besides these rare materials could an "ultimate look" be written? There is some repetition only to clarify and maintain continuity of the overlapping components being discussed in different sections of the book. As the bibliography shows, the book used literally 100's of sources from my collection of 16,000 WW-2 books and magazines and 15,000 feet of official WW-2 aviation microfilm.
Since the book was so detailed it was difficult to write captions that would add any new information. Many readers do not read a book of this size from cover to cover but use it as a reference. They thumb though it, looking at photos and reading captions first to find subjects of interest in the text.
The book is meticulously organized and contains an extensive index. At 360 pages and 500+ drawings and photos from many rare sources; this book is by far the most comprehensive, detailed "Ultimate Look" on the B-29 to date.
A lot of material, poorly presented.......2007-07-14
Wiliam Wolf's "Boeing B-29 Superfortress" is awash in detail covering every aspect of the bomber from earliest development to the final missions at the end of WWII in the Pacific.
That said, the book was a great disappointment to me. The author has clearly researched every detail of the bomber's history and has an impressive bibliography at the end of the book. Nevertheless, the entire presentation seems amaturish. The book badly needs an editor. The text, often parphrased from or quoted from manuals and government publications of the day is sometimes repetitive. Occasionally, directions to the printer to insert pictures in particular locations are left in.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the book is the illustrations and photographs. The graphic content is crucial for a book like this; every reader wants to see the wealth of pictoral detail the author tries to present. Unfortunately, most of the black and white photos and reproductions of drawings and charts are muddy and indistict. Even worse, while the author was allowed complete access to the B-29 in the collection of the Pima Air Museum, he failed to engage a professional photographer or even to learn basic lighting techniques himself. The result is that nearly all the color pictures of the B-29 interior and exterior details are glaringly lighted by the single flash on his camera, leaving some detail washed out and over-exposed and other components lost in shadow. A simple bounce flash or two-flash technique would have produced much better results. A couple of pictures are even blurry because of camera movement or poor focus. This was a unique opportunity to illustrate a rare aircraft wasted.
Picture captions, usually used to impart information that supplements the text of a book and to describe some unique features of the illustration, are, in this book, simply a sentence or two lifted from the nearby text without modification.
In a history and reference book such as this, a comprehensive index is essential. The index in this book is scanty.
Anyone with an interest in the B-29 will want to read this book. Because of its poor quality, I suggest borrowing a copy or buying it used.
The awesome result of complete research!.......2006-05-19
This is book that every famous plane deserves.Every aspect of the plane is covered.That is an understatement!It is all here.Great photos of the plane from Pima Air Museum(another must see).This is definitely a technical book that delves deep into the design,opearation,and logistics of a plane that has remained elusive though known by almost everybody because of its place in history.This book will give all the aviation lovers something to savor for hours on end.
Book Description
The F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, variable sweep wing, two-place strike fighter manufactured by Grumman Aircraft Corporation. Its primary missions include precision strike against ground targets, air superiority, and fleet air defense. Those are the facts. But, behind the facts are the reality of thirty-five years of active naval service as the foremost air superiority fighter of the cold war with continuing service as a fighter-bomber in the Gulf Wars. Over two hundred thousand sailors, officers and enlisted men, pilots, and ground crew served in F-14 squadrons with the Tomcat over the years.Now, as the Tomcat flies off into its sunset and the scrapyardno flyable F-14s will be allowed to survive for fear that Iran, the other operator of the aircraft, might be able to obtain spare parts for their Tomcat fleetGrumman F-14 Tomacat: Anytime Baby . . . ! is a fitting tribute to this still potent old man of the sky. The photography is amazing and the stories are exhilarating.
Customer Reviews:
Cops and robbers.......2007-08-10
Ive always believed cops and fighter pilots shared something in common. You dont know how it feels unless you've felt that trickle of sweat running down your back during a high speed pursuit or chasing boogies over foreign skies, the chase is the name of the game.From running up stairs in the projects to flying at night with ghosts you never know whats going to happen. This book is beautiful to flip through or read the raw, undiluted tales from the pilots themselves. One pilot said " he waited till his knees stopped shaking before he got of the plane after a hop". Ive waited too. Its nice to hear that.
Grumman F-14 Tomcat: Bye-Bye Baby!.......2007-01-16
A great source of information and memories on the F-14. Great pictures, human interest from pilots and air crew, a book to treasure.
Tomcat Tales.......2007-01-09
I used to work at Grumman in 1969, so I have a deep feeling for the aircraft. The book is a compilation of comments from a variety of sources. Some comments are really funny and I enjoyed reading every one of them. Since I a small part of its history, I'm glad to have this book in my library forever.
Grumman F-14 Tomcat: Bye-Bye Baby.......2007-01-05
For those interested in the history of one of America's classic, high
performance, fighter jets and the 14 squadrons of men and women primarily
based out of Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach that flew them,
this is a great illustrated volume. As the parent of a "cat driver" from
the USS Enterprise who flew the first missions in Afganistan, the work was
well done showing many of the maneuvers this wonderful aircraft was capable
of doing. The Tomcat is gone from service but she will not be forgotten by
the men and women who flew her during her long distinguished career.
Lots of flash, not much substance.......2006-11-18
Dave Parsons has been one of the most prolific and talented photographers of the F-14 Tomcat for many years. There is no shortage of his excellent work throughout this book.
However, those looking for some substance to go with the pictures will be disappointed. At the retirement of the venerable Tomcat, there are so many stories and tales of heroism, adventure and just plain fun that are somehow absent in this volume.
The pictures are tremendous, but some text to support and enhance the images would improve this book a great deal. A book that has the retirement of the Tomcat in its title should have some coverage of the retirement inside.
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- Pacific Vortex!
- Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
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- Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe's Great Art - America and Her Allies Recovered It
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