Boys at War, Men at Peace: Former Enemy Air Combatants Meet to Remember and Reconcile [Abridged] [Hardcover]

E. D. McKenzie (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 313 pages
• Publisher: Vantage Pr; 1st edition (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0533124662
• ISBN-13: 978-0533124664
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,555,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many related tales, separated for 53 years, come together, January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Boys at War, Men at Peace: Former Enemy Air Combatants Meet to Remember and Reconcile (Hardcover)

What makes this book outstanding amongst the many written about experiences in the air war over Germany and being shot down and taken as a prisoner of war, is the recent, first person accountings; the enemy pilot who shot him down, the ground witnesses and capturers, but also importantly, the man who was the American leader of the thousands of shot down flyers in Stalag 17 reveals his inside stories which were for so many years held secret. The POW who became a playwright after the war and responsible for the fictionalal, award winning Broadway show and movie named STALAG SEVENTEEN, adds his own story to this book. There is a smooth transition as the story moves back and forth from 1944 to 1996 where now the German and U.S. flags fly side by side, the national anthems are played and the flyers who once tried to kill each other overhead now stand holding hands while hundreds too young to remember, look on and applaud. I liked the epilogue in which the people of the village describe the affect of the war on them, and the biggest event of all; the shooting down of the Flying Fortress named "Toonerville Trolley" onto the hillside next to their farms.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Seems unbelievable, but factual. and interestingly done., January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Boys at War, Men at Peace: Former Enemy Air Combatants Meet to Remember and Reconcile (Hardcover)

My wife and I were fascinated by the author's ability to bring the stories of all the principal characters together, when they assembled for a special ceremony 52 years after the traumatic experiences they endured together. Finding the German pilot, the POW camp leader, the man shot by guards and many others took the combined efforts of German researchers and many Americans. The weaving together of their stories was masterfully done; and surprisingly has led to their reacquaintance and friendship after all these years. We recently read a Ken Follet book in which he fabricated his story and characters, not nearly as astounding and interesting as the "real thing" published in Boys at War, Men at Peace. It should be in libraries and book shops for many years, to be studied by historians of the great air war over Europe, and many previously unpublished incidents in one of the most infamous Stalag Luft camps in Germany. You can put it down, because of the way it is laid out, but you will be anxious to pick it up again to learn what happens next.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real deal, June 22, 2000

By 

C. Schafer "DuarteFan" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boys at War, Men at Peace: Former Enemy Air Combatants Meet to Remember and Reconcile (Hardcover)

I read this book with great interest. Every time I thought I had read something incredible, there was something even more incredible in the very next chapter. The guys who were there are the only ones who know what it was like to be shot while flying a B17 bomber over Europe in WWII, then taken POW by the Germans, and endure the rigors of life as a prisoner. The events that took place are shocking to those of us who, thankfully, have never had to endure such trials. I appreciate the authors very much for giving us a glimpse into their lives, and into an important historical time period. Carol, [e-mail]