Customer Reviews

8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England 1942-1945

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If I was going to visit a WW2 AAF vet and wanted something to get him talking, this is the book I would bring. If he was an 8th AAF I know I would never get it out of his hands. It's a really nice book.

If I was an AAF vet, this is the book I would buy my kids to show them what the war was like.

It's hardcover (not paperback as Amazon says) and is gorgeously laid out with a pile of black and white, and color photos and drawings. It finds a very nice balance between covering various elements and aircraft types, uniforms, and equipment, as well as just plain old day to life of the airmen. It is not a full history of the air war- there are far too many of those already available.

Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in this subject. Top notch production values.

Interest in the 8th Air Force never seems to diminish. This volume from the French publishing firm Historie & Collections provides a largely visual look at the "Mighty Eighth" at war.

Author Gregory Pons relates the experiences of a dozen 8th Air Force pilots, gunners, bombardiers, navigators and mechanics assigned to different Bomb Groups. The experiences of each individual are presented through their combat diaries, letters home, flight records, hometown newspaper articles, various memorabilia and photographs. The history of that person's bomb group is included along with pages of photographs of group aircraft and aircrew, color profiles of group aircraft by Nicolas Gobin and color photographs of re-enactors wearing 8th Air Force garb.

8TH AIR FORCE is a treat for the eyes - tons of nicely reproduced photographs plus Gobin's marvelous artwork! If you are looking for a visual record of the Mighty Eighth, this book fills the bill nicely. Unfortunately you never get to know the men and women featured in this book as living human beings; the personal material included simply doesn't bring them to life in any way, shape or form.

All in all, one great photo album!

I thought this book was pretty good, but not what I expected. When I purchased the book, I expected the usual narrative with reference citations. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author actually used interviews or diary's from the crews of bombers and fighters assigned to the 8th Air Force. I suspected the text would be somewhat dry, but I couldn't have been anymore wrong. The book and recollections were fantastic! This is a must-read for anyone interested in WWII history, and anyone interested in those from the Greatest Generation!