Another wishlist book I received as a gift over the holidays.

On February 23, 1945, the Eighth Air Force launched an unprecedented mission, with more than 1,000 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers attacking the very heart of Nazi Germany, Berlin. This mission would be the largest number of bombers to ever attack a single target on a single mission, and it marked a shift in US bombing strategy, from targeted attacks on precision military targets, to general attacks on city centers. This mission forms the narrative core of this book, told largely through the accounts of the men who fought the elements every bit as much as they fought the Germans. These accounts show how the war and its effects were, in many ways, as random and individual as the men who fought it.

Interleaved with the chronological account of that massive effort to bring the war to Berlin is an overall summary of the development of the US bomber strategy and the build-up the bomber force that would eventually control the skies over Europe. These sections of the book provide an excellent overview of the strategic air campaign, showing how it overcame its early struggles to give the Allies almost total air superiority by the end of the war.

This is an excellent book for providing both a good understanding of the strategic bombing campaign of WWII as well as a detailed look at a specific mission and the individual efforts required to make each mission work. For anyone who wants to understand the nature of the war in the skies over Europe, this is probably a “must read” book.

Passed along to SqueakyChu, who asked to read it after reading my review.

Thank you so much for sharing this book with me, ResQGeek. I can't promise that I can read it quickly, but I will return it to you when I finish it.

I just started reading this book now for the TIOLI challenge on LibraryThing to read a book with at least 3 consecutive vowels in alphabetical order in the title (aei in "American").

I'm actually reading this book in memory of my uncle Henry (Zvi) Stein who was a radio-gunner in a Flying Fortress (B-17) during World War II. It's so scary to read this book. It's hard to believe that my uncle actually took part in these missions. He completed all of his missions (over Bremen and Berlin) safely (B"H) and returned to the United States, only later to immigrate to Israel. During WWII, he lost both of his parents in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. He wrote in a letter dated December, 1943, to the younger of his two sisters, "I can't write you what our task is. You can guess that's pretty dangerous, but I don't care, after all, I could spend the rest of my military service in the States, but I myself insisted to be sent to the front. It's hard to tell the motives, but you will understand."

...and now to continue this book...

I don't know where I reached in this book so I am starting it over. I just recently attended the air show at Andrews Air Force base. There I had the amazing opportunity to not only see a real B17 (the Memphis Belle) fly in the air, but I also had the opportunity to meet its pilot and to walk through the plane. It was an awesome, emotional, and humbling experience for me. This plane, fully restored, will eventually be on display at the air museum in Dayton, Ohio.

Now...on to reading this book...

This book has come home. It was included in a bag of books delivered by Ixion yesterday. I'm putting back with my collection of books about the air war in Europe.