Customer Reviews

Corsair: The F4u in World War II and Korea

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This offering by Barrett Tilllman is one of the more readable accounts of WWII naval aviation. Tillman goes into enough depth to give the reader an appreciation for the technology and engineering involved in the F4U Corsair, but rightly devotes most of the book to the stories of the aviators who flew the "Ensign Eliminator" in combat. Anecdotes related to the author by veteran Corsair drivers, added to Tillman's own knowledge and experience in flying WWII aircraft lend authenticity to the work. Very well researched, this book is a valuable resource for the student of WWII or aviation,but its style also recomends it to the casual reader.

Though not the book I would recommend to my girlfriend, I read it in one session from front to cover. Is it because I was born too late to fly this plane myself? The nice thing for me about this book is that I got the feeling that it took me back in time and let me experience wat it was like -or at least what I thought it would be like-. There are enough photographs to prevent you from drowning in text and evere aspect of the plane gets covered, with the exception of what it was to maintain a Corsair airworthy for its groundcrews.
This book was published in the States by the United States Naval Institute and in Britain by PSL (Patrick Stepens Limited)

Born in 1943, I spent my youth building balsa Corsairs (and Mustangs, Hellcats, Warhawks, Spitfires and Hurricanes) covered with silkspan, and reading of their exploits in WWII and Korea. There must be millions of us Fifty- and Sixty-somethings in America still feeling we were born too late to have a chance to fly the great fighters of WWII. For us, Tillman is a timely author. We buy and read his well-told histories with feelings of respect for the designers, builders, test pilots, pilots and crews who made that great age of the piston-powered warbirds possible.

Avoiding the dreary repetitiveness of some such books, which seem bound to chronicle every squadron's every mission, Tillman's Corsair is an exceptionally good example of its breed. It combines valuable historical detail with first-hand accounts of the plane and its pilots in action.

The best overall history on the Corsair. (trust me I have almost all of them, and this one twice)
A little light on technical info, but for that you really should own Americas Hundred Thousand, by Francis H. Dean.

Easy read as well, not overly dry.

Some fun info like Marines using there Corsairs to Make Icecream! Yes durring the war!

Though not the book I would recommend to my girlfriend, I read it in one session from front to cover. Is it because I was born too late to fly this plane myself? The nice thing for me about this book is that I got the feeling that it took me back in time and let me experience wat it was like -or at least what I thought it would be like-. There are enough photographs to prevent you from drowning in text and evere aspect of the plane gets covered, with the exception of what it was to maintain a Corsair airworthy for its groundcrews.
This book was published in the States by the United States Naval Institute and in Britain by PSL (Patrick Stepens Limited)

Learned what some of the other Squadrons were doing in the Pacific in 1944 and 1945. We didn't have much communications with other Squadrons we where to busy with our own lives. Confirmed problems with Corsair going on Carriers and why the Corsair was given to the
the Marines for land based. Corsair was very good for Close Ground Support in Korea.

I bought this because I wanted a good background to the combat actions of the Corsair in WW2, plus something about its origins. I thought it would do that, but mostly through the stories of the individuals who flew the things. It did this, but with much more of a focus on the machine, I thought, than I had wanted. Sure, individuals are mentioned, but there's not much life in any of them -- they show up, climb or dive at so many feet per minute or at such and such knots, shoot down x many planes, and disappear, replaced by another climbing, diving, roll-rate-intensive take on another episode from the Pacific.

I'll finish it, but it's more of a history of a thing than one of people, and that lack of humanity comes through in the writing.