Customer Reviews

The Martin B-26 Marauder

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

 

 

This book is an excellent in-depth account of the B-26. All aspects of the aircraft are covered, not just its combat exploits. I especially enjoyed the extensive chapters on the development and testing, which are very helpful in understanding the origins of the B-26's bad reputation and its subsequent rehabilitation into the most effective medium bomber in the European Theater. The book is an easy and informative read with just the right balance between technology and narrative. By the way, I met and spoke with the guy whose Marauder is pictured on the cover in a bookstore. He was looking for this book (I had bought the last one a week earlier) and I let him know of another store that had a copy. He was a real nice guy. I guess that would be the best endorsement this book could have. Like my review title says, the Marauder Men read it. That was a few years before amazon.com.

This was my first B-26 book and I liked it...until I found much better books. The best aspect of this book is that it is available in recent print. The problem is that it is only an average book. It is a small format book. Every picture is small and grainy. The paper is not glossy enough to allow the black and white pictures to look decent. Several color pictures have been stuck in the back but they are small and worse yet they are available in "Bomber Command" as larger glossy pictures. The text is very readable. My complaint is that Roger Freeman's book "B-26 Marauder at War" is ten times as good of book and was printed 20 years earlier. The book manufactures should reprint it and not this book. This book has few bits of additional information that isn't in Freeman's book. The best quality of the book is that the author was actually a wartime pilot. I recommend "B-26 Marauder at War" and "WWII: Flying the B-26 over Europe" and "Marauder Men" by Moench. The upcoming warbird tech b-26 book by Johnson with great luck will be better than the very poor P-61 Black Widow that I unfortunately purchased. Good Luck.

There are not many books on the B-26 out there and to me this is one is the best. I had a copy when it originally came out by TAB/Aero books and had long since lost it. It is nice to have it back again. I am glad that they decided to put some of the author's color photos from WWII in it. I had seen some of his other color photos in "The 9th Air Force in Color." You cannot get a more comprehensive book on the Marauder.

This book does a fine job of revealing the story of an airplane that has been largely forgotten. It suffered through many modifications and was called many less than complimentary names by her crews, but when everything was said and done she accomplished her missions as well or better than many of her compatriots. In the end she even lost her B26 designation to another airplane. A fascinating story you shouldn't miss.

I have several books on the B-26. This is a good one because it has many stories from the pilots who flew the medium bombers. It is not a nuts and bolts technical book, but more of an operational review of the Marauder in the Pacific, Mediterranean and European theaters. As other books do, the author spends much time debunking the myth that the B-26 was a "widow maker".

The Martin B-26 was fast medium bomber designed July 1939 and first flew November, 1940. Over 1,100 were ordered before the first one flew. No prototypes, Martin had to build extra factories, train new work force, build planes as fast as they could to meet the demands. Eventually, over 5,000 were made. Eventually, the problems got sorted out. Some of the cures - Give green pilots and service crews more training. Make the wing larger. Add more powerful enginges. The author lists many firsts of this bomber, a solid record by any account.

J.K. Havener was a B-26 pilot. It is obvious that he learned to love this plane and after reading his book, you will see why. 3 stars because the book is small 9x6". The photos (there are some color) are also small, some grainy. This is not a book for modelers, but rather for aviation buffs of WW2 and some one interested in getting the record straight for this often misunderstood bomber.