Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team (Hardcover)

~ (Author), John Swope (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

Review

" This book is dedicated . . . to the men who have gone through the hard and rigid training of members of a bomber crew and who have gone away to defend the nation."
-John Steinbeck, from the Preface --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

A magnificent volume of short novels and an essential World War II report from one of America's great twentieth-century writers

On the heels of the enormous success of his masterwork The Grapes of Wrath-and at the height of the American war effort-John Steinbeck, one of the most prolific and influential literary figures of his generation, wrote Bombs Away, a nonfiction account of his experiences with U.S. Army Air Force bomber crews during World War II. Now, for the first time since its original publication in 1942, Penguin Classics presents this exclusive edition of Steinbeck's introduction to the then-nascent U.S. Army Air Force and its bomber crew-the essential core unit behind American air power that Steinbeck described as "the greatest team in the world." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Viking press; 1st edition (1942)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0007DPXP2
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,570,359 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not the typical Steinbeck, August 4, 2009

By	John Hodges (New York City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I've become a recent Steinbeck fan, specifically for his bare-bones story telling and amazing character development ability. My two personal favorites happen to be the Grapes of Wrath and The Moon is Down (a great read for a concentrated view of why Steinbeck is so well regarded!).

Being a flight enthusiast as well, I thought this would be a happy marriage between a great author and a great hobby, with a touch of 1940s nostalgia. The story starts with a very brief history of the US Air Force, its training program, and its motivation against the war machines of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Being that this book was intended as propoganda, it holds back no punches when describing the ideologies that launched us into this war, and the incredible unified patriotism combined with the army's drive and devotion that created a new branch of the military and type of war in under 2 years. In it's descriptions of the bomber crews of the Air Force, the book also does not hold back from lavishing praise on the parents of the finest soldiers in the country!

The book then follows the training and selection of each member of the crew formulaically, describing their noble and desirable characteristics (both physical and psychological), and offers the reader a glimpse at the rigorous training courses designed to get these new air-crews in the air in under 3 months. Steinbeck also calls out a particular model airman of each chapter to give the reader a human connection within the overly descriptive chapters.

I both enjoyed and thoroughly disliked this book for many of the same reasons. I greatly appreciated the look at the spirit the nation was forced to take during the 1940s. It was incredible to realize the precision and effort that went into training these men. However, this also lended itself to thoroughly redundant phrases and descriptions for each chapter, and left me feeling quite bored, waiting for the end! I also loved the few missions they flew near the end of the book, creating some clasically tense moments that I've seen in other Steinbeck novels. However, these also felt misplaced, as there was no real attachment to the characters who seemed to be thrown in at the last moment to make everything seem more personable.

I do not reccomend this book. If you're interested in WWII flights and training, this might pique your interest, but there are other first-person testimonials or similar stories out there. However, for a great WWII steinbeck read, pick up "The Moon is Down"!