Straight and Level: (Growing up in the '40s) [Paperback]

Jack Botts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2002

Straight and Level is a personal account of a North Dakotan who went directly from high school in 1942 to Army Air Forces training and a B17 bomber crew in Europe during World War II. From old diaries, letters, records and memory, the author recreates both the rigors of training and the panic and frenzy of combat missions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Botts is professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism. He was a reporter and editor for 17 years before beginning a 24-year teaching career at Nebraska, where he was squence head and News-Editorial Department chairman for 18 years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (November 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595261310
• ISBN-13: 978-0595261314
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,691,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From High School to Flying on B-17 Over Europe - Growing up in the 40's!, September 29, 2006

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Straight and Level: (Growing up in the '40s) (Paperback)

We follow author and WWII veteran Jack Botts from his high school days in North Dakota to war and back. He gets drafted shortly after graduation and eventually ends up in Europe flying B-17 missions as a radio operator. In his book "Straight And Level (Growing Up in the 40's)" we witness a coming of age story of sorts. Readers will get to follow a young Jack Botts as he matures in combat.

The author uses old photos, edited letters home and historical facts to go along with his narrative. The combination gives the reader a full spectrum view of what it was like for those young crew members flying bombing missions over Europe. It took a certain amount of courage to get into those airplanes and fly until your 25 missions were completed. Botts doesn't make himself out as any kind of hero in his book and actually understates at times the dangers and the fear he must have faced often completing his missions.

I think real aviation buffs will love this book. This time period in history was one of the most interesting times for all of military aviation. Having the perspective of a crewman who actually flew on these missions makes the telling of this story much fuller and entertaining. That war changed the author, as it did to so many others of that generation; however, we can see only a glimpse of what those changes may have been in his personal accounting of those war experiences. The author effectively puts up just enough of a barrier that he denies the reader any deeper look at his emotional state during this time. But we get snap shots of his feelings from time to time and it paints us a portrait of what he must have been feeling.

You will enjoy reading this book and come to like the story teller as well. The author comes across as somebody you would love to spend time with. He tells his story and holds your attention. You come away knowing something more about the war but more importantly about the men who fought in it. Buy this book and read it! It will not disappoint you.