Customer Reviews

CLASH OF EAGLES: USAAF 8th Air Force Bombers Versus the Luftwaffe in World War II

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With the passing of the widely respected Roger Freeman, Martin Bowman is in line to become THE 8th Air Force historian. Bowman has authored at least a half-a-dozen books on the 8th including JANE'S BATTLES WITH THE LUFTWAFFE and WILD BLUE YONDER. Unlike the former title which was more of a photo history and the latter which recounted the human interactions of 8th personnel and Englishmen and women, Bowman's latest book is a straightforward narrative account of 8th AF combat ops.

From 1942 to 1945 8th AF B-17 and B-24 crews engaged in a merciless air campaign against Hitler's Germany. The battles grew increasingly savage with American bomber losses becoming so high that only the introduction of the P-51 Mustang saved the American daylight offensive.

Using the words of many 8th Air Force personnel and their Luftwaffe opponents, Bowman vividly traces the daylight bombing campaign. The 8th Air Force story has been told before but CLASH OF EAGLE'S first-person accounts, some of which are quite lengthy and sometimes graphic, present the human experience behind those scenes of contrail-streaming formations of bombers wending their way toward Germany. Bowman's book underscores the tremendous hardships endured by the Fortress and Liberator crews.

Eighth Air Force fans will want to pick up a copy of this book. It's a great read and a great tribute to those young warriors who braved the flak and fighters so long ago.

..author Martin Bowman is probably one of the UK's most prolific aviation authors and he is on home ground with this - another volume dealing with the US bomber war over Europe. The title is a bit of a misnomer; it doesn't tell the story of the bombers war as such - but paints a picture of exactly what it was to fly and fight over Europe in a B-17 or B-24. It is extremely well written - in terms of sheer reading experience one of the best WWII aviation books I've come across recently - the personal accounts are mostly very moving, grey (gray), sombre (somber), gritty, even brutal in places. I would say though that the accounts by Luftwaffe veterans hinted at in the title are few and far between and generally extracted from other well-known works. While the author covers the 28 September 44 massacre of the 445th BG by the Sturm assault fighters, he could usefully have covered the history of these specialist Luftwaffe bomber destroyer units in more detail .. Otherwise nice production and the Amazon discount certainly invites a purchase.. on second thoughts this is probably worth that extra star...

I HAVE KNOWN MARTIN BOWMAN PERSONALLY FOR MANY YEARS. I HAVE RESEARCHED THE US. MILITARY ARCHIVES FOR SEVERAL OF HIS BOOKS. I WAS A B-17 CREW MEMBER OF THE 8TH AF AND CAN ATTEST TO THE FACT THAT ALL OF HIS INFORMATION IN HIS BOOKS IS TRUE AND FACTUAL. HE IS A RECOGNIZED AUTHORITY OF 8TH AF AND RAF HISTORY. ALSO HE HAS BEEN INVITED BY THE US NAVY TO DO SEVERAL BOOKS OF CARRIER OPERATIONS. ANYTHING APPEARING AND ASSOCIATED WITH MARTIN BOWMAN IS AUTHENTIC AND WELL RESEARCHED.

I was always curious about the airwar that my grandfather participated in. This book was filled with first hand accounts, and very thorough on its chronological history and associated accounts. It was great to read both sides of the story too. My grandfather told me that he always respected the Luftwaffe pilots that came up against him because "they were low on ammo, fuel, pilot training, and aircraft, but they met us everyday and gave us hell." These are those stories from some of the last knights of warfare. Hands down the most entertaining and intersting book about the skies over Western Europe in WWII I have ever read.

previous reviews have told many of the reasons why this author is positioned to become THE authority on usaf operations during ww2, but what they perhaps don't emphasive enough is the balance he puts forth.to know this bomber was shot down by pilot x and to hear both sides of life altering events makes this book very hard to put down.well worth the price. have over 600 titles in my collection on ww2, this one would make the top 25.i provide reviews not to further any agenda but to guide true lovers of history to works i've enjoyed and not to waste their money on titles that aren't worth the time to read or the paper they used

This is a well written, detailed book. Entertaining reading for all, even the novice historian. Especially enjoyed the author covering both sides of the conflict.