Customer Reviews

Superfortress: The Boeing B-29 and American Airpower in World War II

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I am a Korean War veteran and an aviation enthusiast. From a history standpoint, I found this book to be one of the most interesting I have ever read leading up to the end of the war with Japan. I worked with B-36's in SAC under General LeMay and witnessed some of the things that he did when he was commander of this force. I briefly worked on B-29's during this time and often wondered how this bomber came to be. This book by General LeMay answered all my questions. I recommend this as excellent reading material to one and all!

This book is really two books, one a standard historian's book about the development of the B-29, with a number of details about all of the teething problems of this airplane. This part of the book was clearly written by Bill Yenne and is presented in standard historian-speak.

The rest of the book is a first person narrative, told in much simpler and rougher language, by Curtis LeMay, of his part in the B-29 operations. LeMay, who had a highly successful career in Europe, was given command of B-29 operations, first in China, and then of all B-29 operations in the Pacific, after the initial commanders had fumbled around and struggled to get successful results against the Japanese.

Because of poor weather and poor intelligence, "precision" daylight bombing against Japan was fruitless, and B-29 losses were mounting. LeMay settled on the tactic of low-level night time area bombing with napalm bombs. The result would be the complete devastation of over 60 Japanese cities. LeMay wanted to end the war and felt that this was the quickest way to do it. His minor irritation that the atomic bombings (led as almost a separate operation by Col. Paul Tibbetts) took away the spotlight from his firebombing campaign is evident here.

This book is an important historical record, as it recounts the history of the bomber and the man who helped to end the war against Japan.

I found this book to be very concise, interesting, factual, and good reading. From all the politics involving the B-29, to all the problems associated with an aircraft rushed into production without a thorough acceptance program to weed out malfunctions, plus the failure to accept drawing changes prior to production, this is a story of how the airman on the ground kept this beast flying. The logistical nightmares General LeMay suffered getting the Twentieth Bomb Group up and running, plus operating out of India and China to bomb Japan before transfering to the Mariana's at Tinian severely taxed all airman working to keep the B-29 flying. I encourage everyone to read this book.

This book gives an unique insight into the best bomber of World War II from a man known for his bomber strategies.

Very interesting and accurate history of a great airplane and how it helped win WW II

This third and final publication by retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay (his other books are 'America is in Danger' and 'Mission with LeMay') might well be his best. General LeMay, who eventually rose to become Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, takes us from the development of America's strategic bombing concepts during World War I through the retirement of the mighty B-29 Superfortress in the 1950's. The main focus of the book is on the bomber's development and use during World War II. These topics are neatly integrated with coverage of General LeMay's personal involvement as commander of all B-29 operations against Japanese targets during the final year of the war. Much detail is provided about the plane's successful night incendiary raids on Japan's home islands, as well as the two atomic bomb missions that finally ended World War II. The Japanese surrender in August 1945 negated the need for a planned land invasion of Japan, thereby saving an estimated one million or more American lives. The book's Epilogue covers the B-29's bombing operations during the Korean War and the Superfort's eventual phasing out of the Air Force inventory in the following years. A well-organized Appendix provides interesting information on the plane's production history, technical specifications, operational assignments, and combat missions flown. A section of photographs of B-29's, General LeMay, and other key players involved with the plane's colorful history is also included. The only complaint this reviewer has - and a minor one at that - concerns the book's overuse of italics and exclamation points, the vast majority of which are unnecessary. That small glitch aside, I consider 'Superfortress' to be the finest book ever written on the history of one of America's most successful combat aircraft.