Air America - a secret airline run by the CIA - flew missions no one else would touch, from General Claire Cennault's legendary Flying Tigers in WW II to two brutal decades cruising over the bomb-savaged jungles of Southeast Asia. Their pilots dared all and did all - a high-rolling, fast-playing bunch of has-beens and hellraisers whose motto was 'Anything, Anywhere, Anytime'. Whether it was delivering food and weapons or spooks and opium, Air America was the one airline where you didn't need reservations - just a hell of a lot of courage and a willingness to fly to the bitter end.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Christopher Robbins is a well-known journalist who has written for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, THE OBSERVER, THE INDEPENDENT, THE TIMES and THE SUNDAY TIMES. He lives in London.
--This text refers to an alternate
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Don't let the fact that Mel Gibson and Robert Downey, Jr. are on the cover of this book (to promote their movie "Air America") fool you!
Once you read the book, you will quickly find that the movie and the book really only share a title. In fact, if I were Christopher Robbins, I would have taken the money that Hollywood paid me for the film rights, refinanced the "100-acre wood," and gone off to live with Tigger and Pooh! (Ok, I know. They are not the same people.) I would then divorce my name from any association with the B-grade film that utterly and completely failed to tell the story of these brave Americans who helped support the U.S. war efforts in Southeast Asia.
Aside from the arguably inaccurate chapter dealing with Air America's trafficking of opium, Robbins' research was well received by both former Air America personnel, and eventually, the CIA. I would recommend this book to any aviation/history enthusiast who enjoys reading about the exploits of paramilitary aviation operations.
The book is definitely worth reading . . . just put a bunch of masking tape on the cover. That way you won't be embarrassed if someone on the subway sees you reading it!
Once you read the book, you will quickly find that the movie and the book really only share a title. In fact, if I were Christopher Robbins, I would have taken the money that Hollywood paid me for the film rights, refinanced the "100-acre wood," and gone off to live with Tigger and Pooh! (Ok, I know. They are not the same people.) I would then divorce my name from any association with the B-grade film that utterly and completely failed to tell the story of these brave Americans who helped support the U.S. war efforts in Southeast Asia.
Aside from the arguably inaccurate chapter dealing with Air America's trafficking of opium, Robbins' research was well received by both former Air America personnel, and eventually, the CIA. I would recommend this book to any aviation/history enthusiast who enjoys reading about the exploits of paramilitary aviation operations.
The book is definitely worth reading . . . just put a bunch of masking tape on the cover. That way you won't be embarrassed if someone on the subway sees you reading it!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book in 1985 and it took me three months and two reads to take it all in. I re-read it last year and it is still mind boggling how much information is presented here. The is the oiginal and so far best written work I've seen on the subject.
29 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am not a writer,or literary critic. I am an historian, was a C-123 pilot who flew with Air America pilots in the same Reserve Sqadron. I did fly combat missions over Cambodia and Laos in 1968 and 1969, and felt that one of the worst keep secrets was our activities in those areas. My problem with many of the current generation of writers, Robbins included, is they use only facts that keep their prejudices in line. For those of us who were sent to SEA by Johnson, and sent home by Nixon, we have a different view. Johnson and Kennedy stubled into the war. They were responsible for Air America being in place on Jan 21, 1969. Nixon, like all other Presidents before him, lied about things other Presidents had handed over to him. It is not my opinion, but brute historical fact, the War in Viet-Nam was not Nixon's fault - he was stuck with getting out. He ended the draft for a more equitable lottery system. When he took office, he began an immediate draw down of US forces. Air America was included in the pull back. Pilots of Air America were civilian employees of the CIA. They recieved "double time" for retirement credit. They were not true soldiers of fortune, as Robbins would have you believe, who were forced into drug and gun running. Those that did, were individuals who circumvented company law, and no different than individual writers and politicians who break the law. I think Robbins did his "research" in the bars of the world, not inside official records. Somebody has to pay for salaries and equipment, and that means authorizations and Congressional oversight. Without getting too political, I would remind the reader that the CIA started in 1947, under a Democratic President, and for most of its life, was paid out of funds designated by a Congress that controlled both Houses during the Viet-Nam war. I never voted or liked Nixon. That doesn't excuse me, or any writer of avoiding some simple facts that may make Nixon less of a villian.
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