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58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enlightens and Entertains, October 19, 2006
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.
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73 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disclaimer --Am Still Reading this Book. It's Great!, October 11, 2006
This is a 521-page account of the Eighth Air Force that I never intended to buy for myself. To me, car repair manuals are usually more interesting than dry WWII books filled with numbers and dates. World War II is truly my father's domain. He has had a 50-year fascination with WWII and could probably teach a college course on the subject.
Dad's birthday is coming up, and I knew that Donald Miller, the author of "Masters of the Air" was speaking in town. I never heard of Miller before. I merely intended to hear Miller speak so I could present yet another (yawn) autographed WWII book for dad's birthday. My husband went with me and said, "You should buy the book now, before the guy speaks. That way, we can make a fast getaway." I replied, "If the author is boring, then I know the book will be boring. Let's wait. I might save us some money and my dad some time."
Well, the author's passion for his subject is clear. His dynamic discussion of the people he writes about in "Masters of the Air" caused me to turn to my husband early into the presentation and say, "I should have bought the book before he got on stage. Now I'll have to wait in line."
This historical account is different from most of the other WWII books I've seen. It's a scholarly narrative that is written like a hard-to-put-down novel. The airmen described in "Masters" are compelling, and their stories make the seemingly abstract WWII statistics come alive. One of Miller's many asides tonight -- that 40 million of the 60 million WWII casualties were civilians -- shocked me. War used to be fought on a battleground, away from the civilians. World War II changed all that.
I have only begun reading this book, so please forgive this obviously premature review. I'm writing this review specifically for lay people, not WWII experts or armchair historians. So far, I appreciate "Masters" for making the Greatest Generation's contribution to the world theater more REAL to me, a jaded American, sixty years later. If you have a short attention span and/or think a lengthy book about World War II air fighting would be dry, I promise you: This book will hold your attention.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a beautiful but chilling story of an awesome era, December 24, 2006
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.
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