Customer Reviews

The Last Great Ace : The Life of Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr.

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There is only one word to describe this book; TREMENDOUS! Author Charles A. Martin has written a masterpiece of aviation history. In this book, the reader is given insight into the life of Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. who would end up as America's number two all-time ace with thirty eight confirmed (and many more unconfirmed) victories. This book does a superior job of giving the reader insight into McGuire's life. The first half of the book deals with McGuire from a young age until he entered flight training. Some of the other reviewers of this book thought that the first half was a waste; I highly disagree. Mr. Martin gives us insight into Tommy's youth and his upbringing, which in the end ultimately resulted in the kind of pilot and leader of men he turned out to be. His upbringing had a major impact on the type of commander he was, and I applaud Mr. Martin for including the early years of McGuire's life. Too often, biographers just concentrate on a specific area of a person's life. I'm glad that I found out what type of person Tommy McGuire was when he was younger. It's easy to see from his childhood how he grew to become such an effective leader.

The second half of the book deals with the actual combat life of Tommy. From August 1943 until his untimely death on January 7, 1945, Major McGuire compiled a record which most fighter pilots only dream about. He shot down thirty eight enemy aircraft; second only to his rival and friend Dick Bong's forty. He also grew to be a highly respected leader, tactician, teacher, and friend. Tommy was a fiery individual in combat, but he was a true friend to his comrades in every sense of the word and he always looked out for the well-being of everyone in his squadron.

I've read dozens of books about the Pacific war, but this book rates as one of my all-time favorites. This is a true classic of aviation history. Read it and discover the life of a true American hero.

Most biographers like their subjects, and that is likely the case with Charles Martin and his subject, Tom McGuire. Still, Martin presents a generally well balanced view of our second leading ace of all time, and one comes away with a sense of a very complex young man with lots of "background" going on in his mind as he goes off to war. Martin tends to downplay McGuire's prickly personality, but does acknowledge that many felt that Mac could be difficult. More importantly, we come to understand more WHY Mac was sometimes difficult -- as noted previously, there was lots of baggage there. I highly recommend this book for aviation fans and those who are interested in what made one of our lesser known, but of first magnitude, heroes tick. If the definition of a well written book includes a)wanting to meet the subject, b) wanting to meet the author, and c) wanting the author to turn to another subject you are interested in, then The Last Great Ace qualifies on all counts.

Prior to reading this book I had some knowledge of Major Tom McGuire, but this book allowed me to "peel" back the layers of what made up the Man, the husband and the Pilot. The book methodically took me through his early life, flight school and into the Pacific Theater where we find this skilled pilot in the cockpit of his P-38 Lightning "Puddgy." Unlike some books written about famous fighter pilots of the WWII era you will be treated to a look at his friendship with flying legend Charles Lindburg, letters to his wife, recollections from his crew chief and his relationship with Americas Ace of Aces "Dick" Bong.

The author also takes into account the day to day life on the airbase(s), meetings with Generals and of course his aerial battles with the Japanese. Well balanced, insightful, this is a great book about a Medal of Honor recipient, I hope you enjoy it.

I have been a student of aviation history since my childhood. Major Tom McGuire was one of my boyhood heroes and one of the aces I enjoyed learning about. To my knowledge this is the first biography dedicated to McGuire. Let me say that Mr. Martin has done a terriffic job with his book. It is well documented and paints a wonderful picture of McGuire's rather complex personality.

"Mac" doesn't live up to the cliched image of ace at all. He was no poor child growing up hunting in the hills or in the plains. Rather, he came from a well to do family and was something of a "geek" in school. He didn't play football, he played the clarinet.

Mr. Martin does a good job of presenting his facts and his documentation and he draws conclusions where appropriate. He finally introduces the world to Marilynn, McGuire's wife and the inspiration for his airplanes to be named "PUDGY". For the record, she wasn't. The book goes into some detail explaining the so called "ace race" between McGuire and Bong (it was perhaps a bit overstated) as well as McGuire's last flight (there was a reason to hold onto those drop tanks).

If you have ever had any interest in the life of Tom McGuire let me recommend The Last Great Ace to you. My impression about McGuire personally is that I am not sure I would have been friends with him, but I sure would've wanted him leading me into combat. Enjoy.

I am a flier and I find this to be one of the finest books about flying I have ever read. McGuire was a great flier and a daredevil, but also a leader of men. Big surprise: he was raised by his mother and grandmother--no father in the home. He learned much of his leadership skills from ROTC at Ga. Tech. These factors go against some of our commonly held ideas about where heroes come from. This story would make a great movie. I've corresponded with the author and have found that McGuire will soon be the subject of a Legends of Airpower program on PBS.

Charles Martin has written the definitive account of the life of Tommy McGuire, one of America's greatest fighter aces. It is fascinating, exciting and instructive. The background information that Martin gives us about McGuire makes us privy to the motivation and inspiration that produced America's finest. I have read most of the books on WWII fighter pilots and find "The Last Great Ace" to be one of the best if not the best.

Max D. Isaacson

this book tells the story how just an average guy can dig down deep, overcoming personal difficulties to become a leader, and a hero.

When I bought this book I had some serious doubts as there has been little written about Tommy McGuire and it would seem that there was even less known about him outside of his persona.

This book does and absolutely wonderful job of introducing you to the boy, the young adult and finally the all-to-young pilot that accomplished so much. There is not much to say beyond, buy this book, you won't be disappointed.

I've never been to Sebring, Florida nor have I ever known Major Thomas McGuire. Having read Martin's book, I now feel I know Sebring and was an old friend of Tommy McGuire. The writing is well done and it obviously took tons of research to do a job that well. I recently finished reading "Lindberg" by A. Scott Berg. Martin's book Was just as gripping and informative. I highly recommend it!

I was attracted to this book firstly because of the surname (you never know who might be a relative) and the subject as an ex-airforce pilot who flew P51 Mustangs. The author has a lot to say about the negative history of Tommy McGuire and attempts to distance himself from that and be objective. Unfortunately Charles Martin is never-the-less writing about a home town hero and it shows. The truth can hurt but not therefore to be suppressed; heroes mostly have feet of clay somewhere and here the first half is painfully boring! McGuire is a unpreposessing personality: liked by some but certainly not liked by others. His tight formation mania for example would horrify other tacticians going back to the Spanish Civil War (or is he badly reported?). However, you can assess him for yourself. The politics of "acedom" come through clearly (and not confined to the Pacific or USAF) but one wonders how many died in the pursuit of the cult of the individual. McGuire's last flight is well discussed but in the end the book makes clear he flew often well beyond structural and flight limitation of the aircraft - and it finally bit him. But then, how correct is the text when the author gives the most appallingly inaccurate discription of a spin in a training aircraft - pure fantasy (I speak as a flying instructor). I have read practically every western fighter pilot's autobiograph/biography written - this is the bottom of the pile. Interesting and that is about all. And appalling quality photos.