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Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

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Every once in a long while we delight and surprise ourselves when we pick up a book that enlightens and entertains. It's the pinnacle of excellence reached by but a few non-fiction writers. Miller is one of those writers. His book, the story of the Eighth Air Force, is one of equal parts bravery, terror, and glamour, with some of its men becoming the most celebrated personalities the war. Miller chronicles the heroic feats of Robert Morgan, pilot of the legendary Memphis Belle; of Paul Tibbets, who later would fly the Enola Gay on the A-bomb mission to Hiroshima; of Curtis LeMay, the most celebrated combat leader of the bomber war; and--one of the key figures of the book--of Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, leader of the Bloody Hundredth, who flew 52 combat missions, was shot down three times, and later became a member of the team of prosecuting attorneys at the Nuremberg Trials.
Although remembered by few alive today, their exploits were captured for the home front by gritty young reporters such as Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney. Unlike many of the talking heads who populate our TV news, these men flew combat missions with the Bomber Boys risking their lives, not for ratings, but because they wanted to remind all the mothers and fathers wives and children back home why our cause was just.
But the most interesting thing that struck me while reading this book is that while it tells the tales of celebrities such as Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, William Wyler and the like, it also reminds us that these brave men, these truly heroic men, who flew harrowing missions, were our fathers and grandfathers. They were young men, some of them just out of high school, who were just like us or our children. It's a book filled with almost mythical heroes, men bigger than life yet real enough to be your neighbor. In an era saturated with pretend celebrities and steroid saturated athletes, this is a book that you should read to your children.

This book is awesome.

It is awesome because of its balanced and thorough analysis of the air war that pulverized Germany, a war now sentimentally known as "the good war" when Americans pulverized their enemies with the ease of comic book heroes.

"'Tain't so, Magee." Comic book heroes never had such courage.

Instead, think of the 80 percent casualty rate of the US Eighth Air Force in its early years as book theory met killing reality in conditions that stagger modern imaginations. I've flown in a B-17; it is huge on the outside, inside it is a tiny tube filled with equipment, supplies and hundreds of sharp objects that hurt when you are bumped, slip or are thrown about. Think of riding inside your computer on a truck bouncing down a bumpy mountain road and having to write an A-plus story en route.

So much for creature comfort. Put it all in air colder than Antarctica. Paint a big star on the side as a target, then send it into the sky for hours at a time. Soldiers on the ground sheltered in foxholes and bunkers; the skin of a B-17 was beer-can-thin aluminum. The plane is like a vast Tinkertoy riveted into an amazingly strong and yet frightfully vulnerable structure. It is a mighty aircraft, yet thin enough that a pigeon could penetrate it and injure crewmen.

This is the reality of the bomber offensive. Miller presents it in awesome, chilling detail. Unlike most histories, it isn't a lone portrait of some brave men; instead, it includes chilling accounts from all. One account is of an American pilot flying with his elbows because his hands were blown off, another is of German children who roasted to death in their flaming cities.

He spares neither the folly of American planners who thought their aircraft and tactics would be invincible and quickly effective, and the terrible folly of Germans who had worse delusions. The air war was a battle in which neither side surrendered; both fought until only one was left flying.

Miller offers a convincing argument that victory in World War II was not inevitable, it was based on pure courage. No wonder World War II veterans are 'The Greatest Generation". Without their courage, far and above all expectations, orders or threats, the vast production of war material would have become a vast junkpile.

There are many great books about the air war. This one has an advantage over most if not all because it draws many disparate facts, threads, ideas, opinions and follies into a comprehensive portrait. It is awesome, because it is a story of awesome courage.

As a WWII history buff, the highlight of my one and only trip to Europe was crossing the Dutch coast and asking myelf how could the boys - and that's what they really were - of the Eighth Air Force have done this raid after raid, knowing that they were likely flying toward their own death. Until late 1944, the odds were against an 8th Air Force crew member surviving their tour.

Donald L. Miller answers that question and many others in his absolutely superlative history of the American air war over Germany. (Not taking anything away from Miller's work is that suggestion that you also read Max Hasting's "Bomber Command" for a view of the very different English air war.)

Miller alternates between first person accounts of crew members and their missions, the leaders, the campaign objectives, assessments of the impact of the various phases of the air war and the enemy reaction. It may sound confusing, but because of Miller's extraordinary writing and the seamless organization of his meticulously researched material, it is not.

In fact, Miller does an exceptional job of conveying the fear of the crew, the blind faith of the leaders in the doctrine of aerial bombing, the grim realities that had to be faced all down the line as men realized that the unsupported bomber was not an impregnable "Flying Fortress". Miller weaves each part of the incredibly complex air war and its combatants together. From gunners to pilots to generals to the men who selected the targets and argued over strategy, Miller allows the multiple stories to develop and blossum and then moves on to another.

Miller is careful to distinguish the American campaign of "precision" bombing from the more candidly terror oriented British campaign of "area" bombing. The distinction became extremely thin and possibly non-existent in the final few months of the war.

Arguments still rage as to whether or not the bombing campaigns truly contributed to war against Germany. Miller is, fortunately, not judgmental. What he does stress is the incredible courage shown by American airmen in their campaign against Germany. While Miller does not recount the episode in this book, Herman Goering is reported to have told his interrogators that he could not believe that German fighters were unable to turn a single American bomber force from its intended target.

Miller's reach is essentially encyclopedic in this book. No aspect of the American air war over Europe is left untouched. The scholarship is simply staggering. Miller's alternation between stories of individual "bomber boys" and their selection, training, fighting, deaths, injuries, imprisonment when captured, rescues and finally the end of war interspersed with examination of the history of air warfare, the development of machines and weapons, strategy and tactics is exceptionally well done.

"Masters Of The Air" never becomes dry or pedantic. It is always intense and one cannot help but marvel at the courage, tenacity and genius of "America's bomber boys who fought the air war against Nazi Germany." A wonderful addition to the library of anyone with an interest in history.

Jerry

Every once in awhile a work of non fiction comes along that can truly be called the definitive work on its subject. They are comprehensive, thoroughly researched and compelling reads. Donald Miller's "Masters of the Air" fits this bill to a tee. While Miller puts the exploits of the US Army 8th Air Force into the context of the greater Allied air war of World War II he wisely chooses to concentrate on the individuals who flew the planes. Their stories are some of the most dramatic and harrowing of the war. There is heroism and heart break aplenty but also liberal doses of nerve wrenching pressure, along with everything else from guilt to panic to depression. Meeting these pilots is to gain further insight into the human condition, the limits to which it can be exposed and the very fragility at its core.
Miller introduces us to the entire cast of this sprawling epic: The English who shared their homes, pubs and sometimes beds with American airman; the Germans, both those who bore the brunt of the allied bombs and the fighter pilots who tried to shoot them down; and those who sent the the pilots on their missions.
Miller brings us into all sections of the fortresses (bombers) the allies flew. We join the pilots, tail gunners, navigators and the rest of the ten man crews. Every flight could bring an instant death, or a slow excruciating one or a permanent injury, or a bail out and capture by the enemy. As readers we experience all these fates.
We also follow the pilots to wild scenes of ribaldry in London nightspots, street corner sexual encounters and peaceful evenings with village families. Other stops include crash landings into icy ocean waters and emergency parachute bail outs into the hands of vengeful German citizens.
"Masters of the Air" is at once an exciting read of valor from the last century and a sobering account of the horrendous costs of war. It is also indispensable reading for anyone with the slightest interest in the second world war.
The success of the allied air war efforts were, as Miller emphasizes an integral part of ultimate victory over Hitler. The manner in which it was waged was initially rife with mistakes and miscalculations and there is enduring controversy over the costs to German citizens. Also still debated is the failure of allied bombing to at least slow the machinery of theNazi death camps. Miller does not flinch from addressing these issues.
Indeed, Miller is not a cheerleader for the allies (though he unabashedly admires the men of the 8th and their cause) he is first and foremost a bloody good storyteller and a meticulous researcher and reporter.
It is this combination that makes "Masters of the Air" the definitive book on the allied air war in Europe and one of the best books on World War II I've had the pleasure to read.

I am only about half way through this book but felt compelled to write a review at this time. Normally I read at about 100 pages per hour, but not this book. The material is so compelling and the stories so heartbreaking (and true) that I am reading it very very carefully. The amount of research that went into this book is amazing - over 115 pages of notes and bibliography! I have several other "picture histories" of the 8th Air force, but nothing prepared me for the stark realism found here. The sacrifices being made today in Iraq are sad, but nothing compared to what the 8th endured. WWII ended when I was just 10 years old, so I really don't remember much about it and so I now have an extensive library of books about the conflict. This is by far the best writing I have encountered, except perhaps for Ernie Pyle's books. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in WWII and stories of incredible heroism.

I have read the majority of the books written about the air war in Europe but few have revealed the thoughts and feelings of those who flew the planes into danger as well as this one. It examines from the beginning to the end of the war with both an intimate perspective and a global one. It discusses the lives before battle and events in the air. It talks of those came back, those who died or were wounded and those who were captured. The total picture here and written in an exciting yet human manner. I highly recommend this book. If you have one book to read about the war in the air over Europe, this is the ONE.

I read a glowing review of the book in the New York Times and decided to buy the book although I have not read much about WW II.

The little that I have read was a bit to dry to suit my taste but since the Times called this a "thoroughly engrossing" book and was based on 250 interviews, I thought it would be interesting to hear or read what the men on the ground or in this case in the air had to say about their experiences.

I was not disappointed. The all but 700 pages read like a novel except that the characters were real. For days I felt like asking anyone I met who was over 70 years old, if they were in the war.

I have never read history where you become so consumed with the characters that you don't even realize that, taken together, they have told you a grand story. It's almost like you are consumed with weaving threads and suddenly realize that you have woven a tapestry; one that tells a story.

There's a character that all but the most jaded will empathize with and I must confess that at times I almost wished that I was there.

Over the years, I have read a good deal of World War II history, and this is one of the best. Donald Miller in Masters of the Air puts it all together. He has the personal accounts, the big strategic plan, the technology innovations, the follow-up reports, the POW stories, the Yank-in-Britain encounters, the German impact, the relentless missions, all bound together in one very readable book. From my father-in-law, I learned about the little-known travails of the Swiss internees, American bombers who crash-landed in "neutral" Switzerland, and Miller devoted a chapter to this aspect of the war. He has the skill of a novelist and the scope of an historian.

As a combat veteran pilot of the 8th Air Force in WW-II, I have read many accounts of the exploits of this the largest air armada in the history of mankind, never to be repeated. "Masters of the Air" is the best account of the air war in Europe in WW-II that I have read. I bought three additional copies to give to my two reamining bomber crew members (out of the original ten members)and to an airline captain whose dad flew with the 8th. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in what the real world of aerial warfare was during those dark days.

For all of the writing that has been done on the Second World War I am surprised to see that a work of this calibar, chronicling the lives and deaths of the US Air Force in theatre has never been competed. Donald Miller has written one of those books that not only features a great story, but has the fantastic writing to deliver a compelling and riviting story. Miller also deserves applause for writing on what happened when the planes were not in the air and for capturing the mistakes and learning processes without making it appear that the crews were poorly trained. This is probably the best WWII book since Stephen Ambrose passed away. I strongly recommend sitting down and reading all pages!