One Last Look: Sentimental Journey to the Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Bases of World War II in England [Hardcover]

Philip Kaplan (Author), Rex Alan Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1983

"This beautifully illustrated and sensitively designed volume returns to now-long-abandoned U.S. Army Air Force bases in England, melding photographs from World War II with recent views of overgrown runways, rusting Nissen huts, and crumbling, ghostly control towers".--American History Illustrated. 250 illustrations, 100 in color.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; 1st edition (September 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896594041
• ISBN-13: 978-0896594043
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant evocation, May 26, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: One Last Look: A Sentimental Journey to the Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Bases of World War II in England (Hardcover)

The 50th anniversary of World War II led to the publication of
a huge flotilla of coffee table books, some of them wonderful, some not.
This one, which includes hundreds of historic and contemporary photos
of the British bases of the Eighth Army Air Force, is the best of
the lot. The team that produced the book has worked on other books,
including the enjoyable "Little Friends," about the fighter pilots
of the European campaign, but in this volume it all comes together:
their eye for detail, their graphic sense, and their ability to
capture the look and feel of the 1940s, a time suddenly becoming very
distant as the war's last survivors begin dying. This made a much
appreciated gift for my uncle, who flew with the "Mighty Eighth."
But I couldn't let it go -- I had to buy another copy to keep.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Last Look, November 20, 2001

By 

Richard M. Ketner (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Last Look: A Sentimental Journey to the Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Bases of World War II in England (Hardcover)

As the son of a surviving B-17 pilot, I have spent considerable time poring over books specific to the subject. This book, along with Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer are true treasures. History books alone cannot convey information to our successors like a story retold by someone who had the events firmly planted in their memory by the first-hand impact of the situation.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent look back, April 11, 2004

By 

Ryan C. Ridgely (Athens, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Last Look: A Sentimental Journey to the Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Bases of World War II in England (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent postscript to reading thousands of pages about the air war in Europe. I've always been fascinated by what the air crews did, and how they lived their lives. Part of what makes it so interesting is the vast span of time that exists between now and then. This book, through photographs, documents that span of time... and through these photographs, you can see how something so large as a world war can fade into the past, which in a special kind of way makes the people involved that much more interesting: larger than time... bigger than anything you can see now. The text in this book is limited (by their design), yet concise and informative. Yet, if a picture is worth a thousand words, this book is probably a million words long. I haven't seen pictures as vivid as those in this book anywhere else. Many are in full color, some are vintage WWII color photos spanning two pages. The appendix is filled some pretty amazing statistics, right down to the number of .50 caliber rounds fired by 8th AF bombers.

The foreword by Andy Rooney is pretty revealing as well. You won't watch him on 60 minutes the same way again.