Customer Reviews

The Legendary Secret Norden Bombsight: (Schiffer Military History)

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

 

 

Written by an individual who had a significant role in the manufacture of the Norden bombsight, this book is both a history of the device's development and a technical discussion of the science of accurate high-level bomb aiming. Its approach is scientific with an explanation oft he problem, followed by a step-by-step discussion of how the various issues were resolved by the Norden bombsight.

As such, this is not an easy read, sometimes reminding me of a textbook rather than a narrative history. It also could function as a training in that it describes how to set the various functions on the bombsight for use in action.

Earlier this year (2008), I had the remarkable privilege of flying in a restored B-17G, experiencing take-off from the bombardier's position with a Norden bombsight before me. I wish I had this book with me so thast I could have understood more about the device. The diagrams and photos would have allowed me to - in my imagination - drop those faux 500 pound bombs we carried.

Published by Schiffer, this book is a departure from many - perhaps most - of their output in that it is in the standard 10 by six inch book format and runs to some 250 pages. It does, however, suffer from the usual editorial/proofreading shortcomings.

All in all, this is not a pictorial history but is the defintive design story of the Norden bombsight.

This book is a useful addition to the technical history of American military aviation history. The author clearly put a lot of effort into obtaining widely scattered and largely inaccessible information. As the author himself noted, the story remains incomplete due to missing or as yet unlocated documentation. It will be a good baseline for any future attempts to further the story of the Norden bombsight. So, why do I only give it three stars? The author, I am reasonably sure, would not make any claims to be a professional historical or technical writer. The book was a labor of love by someone involved with the Norden bombsight. I feel though that both the author and the reader were let down by the publisher's failure to employ a professional editor to review the manuscript before publication. Not having the original documents in front of me, I am willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt concerning the historical details directly related to the Norden bombsight. However, there were a number of incorrect general historical background items, such as typically occur in a book of this nature, but that a careful reading should have noted. Also, clear technical writing is very difficult. There is a real art to making a very technical subject understandable, especially to a non-technical reader. Finally, general editing of the manuscript would have made much of the text more readable, understandable, and grammatically correct. Even the most professional writer always benefits from a careful review of their work by a professional editor. The original writer is often blind to their own mistakes. If this type of professional technical editing had been done, working closely with the author to insure factual accuracy, a useful book would have been a five star great book.

This is a very detailed book on the Norden Bombsight.