Courage and valor of the 8th Air Force and WWII Veterans Revealed

I have read the majority of the books written about the air war in Europe but few have revealed the thoughts and feelings of those who flew the planes into danger as well as this one. It examines from the beginning to the end of the war with both an intimate perspective and a global one. It discusses the lives before battle and events in the air. It talks of those came back, those who died or were wounded and those who were captured. The total picture here and written in an exciting yet human manner. I highly recommend this book. If you have one book to read about the war in the air over Europe, this is the ONE.

A superlative account of the American air campaign over Europe

As a WWII history buff, the highlight of my one and only trip to Europe was crossing the Dutch coast and asking myelf how could the boys - and that's what they really were - of the Eighth Air Force have done this raid after raid, knowing that they were likely flying toward their own death. Until late 1944, the odds were against an 8th Air Force crew member surviving their tour.

An astounding piece of writing

I am only about half way through this book but felt compelled to write a review at this time. Normally I read at about 100 pages per hour, but not this book. The material is so compelling and the stories so heartbreaking (and true) that I am reading it very very carefully. The amount of research that went into this book is amazing - over 115 pages of notes and bibliography! I have several other "picture histories" of the 8th Air force, but nothing prepared me for the stark realism found here. The sacrifices being made today in Iraq are sad, but nothing compared to what the 8th endured. WWII ended when I was just 10 years old, so I really don't remember much about it and so I now have an extensive library of books about the conflict. This is by far the best writing I have encountered, except perhaps for Ernie Pyle's books. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in WWII and stories of incredible heroism.