Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen [Hardcover]

Lynn Homan (Author), Thomas Reilly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2001

The story of the men and women who served at Tuskegee Army Air Field from 1941 to 1946.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Between 1941 and 1948, black airmen trained at a segregated facility in Tuskegee, Alabama, in a social experiment that eventually led to the opening of the armed services to black men and women. What became known as the Tuskegee Experience was the culmination of 10 years of struggle by civil rights groups to get the War Department to allow blacks to serve in the military. The hard-fought victory fell substantially short of the real objective--an integrated armed service. Still, the Tuskegee airmen secured a significant place in American and black history for bravery in service on and off the battlefield. Through interviews with Tuskegee airmen and their families, as well as archival research, Homan and Reilly convey the organizational and personal struggles behind the Tuskegee Experience. Homan and Reilly detail the training and war missions of the black airmen, hardships overcome in Europe as well as at home. This is a treasure of photographs and recollections of an important part of American history. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Partners in the firm of Homan and Reilly Designs, Lynn Homan and Thomas Reilly bring extensive experience in historical research, writing, and creative design to their work. They design, curate, and research museum exhibitions, including the acclaimed traveling exhibition, The Tuskegee Airmen , and a permanent exhibit at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum in Savannah, GA called African-Americans in Aviation . Both Ms. Homan and Mr. Reilly lecture frequently across the United States. This is their ninth book together.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing; 1st ed edition (January 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565548280
• ISBN-13: 978-1565548282
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > History > Military > Aviation
  • #36 in Books > History > Military Science

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best There Is!, June 4, 2001

By 

Hiram E. Mann Lieutenant Colonel USAF (Retired) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen (Hardcover)

"As an original Tuskegee Airman, I considered myself knowledgeable about the Tuskegee Experience. 'Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen' reminded me of events both sad and enjobable that have been forgotten for more than fifty-five years. Meticulously researched and thoughtfully written, the book also provided a wealth of detailed information with which I was unfamiliar."

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars review for my class, part 2, March 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen (Hardcover)

The middle of the book is a detailed record of significant air battles in which the Tuskegee Airmen were involved. At this point, the reader becomes less compelled to read every sentence of every page as the book makes a transition from being a presentation of the Tuskegee Experience's fight for existence to more of a day-by-day record of many of the missions the airmen flew. Certain phrases become cliché in the telling of each story, and the reader gets somewhat lost in the seemingly endless listings of names and how many kills were becoming associated with each. While the special care taken to preserve detailed historical accuracy is impressive, the book could greatly benefit from including more personal accounts by the airmen themselves. The preface tells of the many interviews that the authors conducted to gather information for their project; the reader is disappointed to find out that virtually none of these interviews are described in detail, let alone even directly quoted. Including detailed firsthand accounts of the pilots' individual experiences would certainly have helped to break the monotony of this part of the book, and unquestionably would have made it more interesting.
One thing that the book does very well is to give credit not just to the pilots who saw combat action in the war, but also to all of the people that made it possible for them to get there. It should be noted that, although initially it was not the case, the Tuskegee Army Air Field was staffed almost entirely by black soldiers at every level. Everyone from mess hall workers, to entertainers, to mechanics, to weather observers was black. White soldiers only held assignments there temporarily while black soldiers were being rotated into their positions. Chapter XVII, titled "The Unsung Warriors," is dedicated entirely to presenting the foundation of the Tuskegee Experience. This is a very important piece of the Tuskegee puzzle because, for example, if there were no ground crews, the planes would never have flown. Other works tend to give all of the glory to the combat-seasoned pilots, while this book does a very complete job of evenly distributing the credit. Another example of the completeness of Black Knights is Chapter XIII, which deals with the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium). Although these bomber crews never saw combat, they were another part of the on-going story of blacks' struggle for equality. Lastly, the roster of Tuskegee graduates in the appendix of the book further supports the authors' mission to create a concise historical record of the Tuskegee Experience.
Black Knights also gives a clear view of the original intent of the Tuskegee Experiment. For the most part, the higher powers responsible for the creation of a black training facility approved the program with the intent of proving its failure. The book does a good job of showing how certain people at the slightly-lower levels were the saviors of the whole program. Besides the efforts of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. to promote the program, certain other benefactors are given appropriate mention as well. Colonel Noel F. Parrish is one such example, who, after taking over command of Tuskegee Army Air Field, did so much to boost morale at the base that he is given almost as much recognition as Colonel Davis for helping to save the program.
The book's timeline seems to break up in the last chapter of the book. In Chapter XIX, entitled "Black Birds," a brief overview of the history of black fliers is given. While one can appreciate the contribution those pilots made to aviation, it did not have a direct effect on the creation of the Tuskegee Experience. The authors would have done well to simply omit the last chapter; placed at the end of the book, it seems out of place and its spotty detail is a bit awkward to follow simply because it seems out of sequence. This material would carry more meaning if it was instead placed at the beginning of the book, and also perhaps if it was simply integrated into the first chapter.
All in all the authors did a fine job of recounting the story of the brave men who came to be known as the Tuskegee Airmen. As the title suggests, Black Knights: the Story of the Tuskegee Airmen accurately illustrates the fierce crusade that was fought against racism and segregation. While certainly a very complete work, Black Knights is not about drama. It presents the facts for what they were; for that, it deserves appreciation, but it has little to offer as far as gripping tales of fast-paced dogfights and personal experiences.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Depth of research: 5 stars. Quality of editing: 3 stars., October 17, 2001

By 

sixtring "sixtring" (Mid-Atlantic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen (Hardcover)

You have to appreciate the amount of effort that went into assembling this book. Even the casually interested reader will finish "Black Knights" with a greater appreciation for the young men who completed the Tuskeegee Experience and went on to serve their country in WWII and beyond. Archival detail is impressive, down to an appendix that offers a roster of all Tuskeegee graduates. Can a future reprint offer the service history of each individual as well?

The book itself presents exhaustive research into the the origins of the program, testimony for and against its development, and records of Tuskeegee-trained airmen in combat and in the post-war USAF. But two-thirds of the way into the book, once the title material is exhausted, it begins a survey of pre-WWII black aviation pioneers. This material is also well-researched, but a bit awkward in its sequence and given the title. Should this have been published as two separate books?

Voluminous research presented the authors with a great challenge: how could all the information be made readable? The authors often succeeded at this task. Note the story of the 99th squadron's first air-to-air kill, and how that is woven back into the discussion of the Army Air Corps' resistance to establishing the squadron in the first place.

This is a good read, if not always compelling. Youth in search of heros need to look beyond the sports and recording industries to discover the Tuskeegee Airmen. Excerpts from this book may provide that introduction.