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Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War Paperback – May 10, 2004

by Robert Coram (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,595 ratings
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John Boyd may be the most remarkable unsung hero in all of American military history. Some remember him as the greatest U.S. fighter pilot ever -- the man who, in simulated air-to-air combat, defeated every challenger in less than forty seconds. Some recall him as the father of our country's most legendary fighter aircraft -- the F-15 and F-16. Still others think of Boyd as the most influential military theorist since Sun Tzu. They know only half the story.

Boyd, more than any other person, saved fighter aviation from the predations of the Strategic Air Command. His manual of fighter tactics changed the way every air force in the world flies and fights. He discovered a physical theory that forever altered the way fighter planes were designed. Later in life, he developed a theory of military strategy that has been adopted throughout the world and even applied to business models for maximizing efficiency. And in one of the most startling and unknown stories of modern military history, the Air Force fighter pilot taught the U.S. Marine Corps how to fight war on the ground. His ideas led to America's swift and decisive victory in the Gulf War and foretold the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

On a personal level, Boyd rarely met a general he couldn't offend. He was loud, abrasive, and profane. A man of daring, ferocious passion and intractable stubbornness, he was that most American of heroes -- a rebel who cared not for his reputation or fortune but for his country. He was a true patriot, a man who made a career of challenging the shortsighted and self-serving Pentagon bureaucracy. America owes Boyd and his disciples -- the six men known as the "Acolytes" -- a great debt.

Robert Coram finally brings to light the remarkable story of a man who polarized all who knew him, but who left a legacy that will influence the military -- and all of America -- for decades to come . . .
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    504 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Back Bay Books
  4. Publication date
    May 10, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0316796883
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0316796880
  8. See all details
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  1. The most amazing aspect of the OODA Loop is that the losing side rarely understands what happened.
    Highlighted by 649 Kindle readers
  2. To attack the mind of the opponent, to unravel the commander before a battle even begins, is the essence of fighting smart.
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  3. “You gotta challenge all assumptions. If you don’t, what is doctrine on day one becomes dogma forever after.”
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Editorial Reviews

Review

""Fascinating....An excellent book....Coram captures the dazzling diversity of John Boyd--fighter pilot, aerial tactician, engineer, and scholar."

About the Author

Robert Coram was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his work as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is the author of seven novels and four nonfiction books, including American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day and Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War. He lives in Atlanta.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (May 10, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 504 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316796883
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316796880
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,595 ratings

About the author

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Robert Coram

Robert Coram

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I was born and grew up in deep southwest Georgia. For many years I have lived and worked in Atlanta. But southwest Georgia remains a big part of who and what I am.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
2,595 global ratings
Boyd: a strategist’s strategist
5 Stars
Boyd: a strategist’s strategist
This book is an excellent biography of America fighter pilot and strategist John Boyd. Well-researched and well-written, the book is something of an easy read for those familiar with the military, a bit of technology, and strategy. Half strategic theory and half exploits, trials, and tribulations of a fighter pilot’s fighter pilot, the book paints a vivid portrait of a curiously curmudgeonly autodidact-polymath.Though with an extensive military background, I had not known about John Boyd until relatively recently, and this book helped me mightily along the way to becoming familiar with this strategic giant. I must say, however, that I’ve surprisingly found most of my Army theorist friends had never before heard of him, and this includes people who were on GEN Schwarzkopf’s Jedi Knights Staff, the folks who actually planned the details of the Iraq I Invasion. Some even said it was intuitively obvious that the Desert Storm “Left-Hook” strategy (for which the book gives large credit to Boyd) should have been the one chosen. Nevertheless, I did find one Army Jedi Knights high-level theorist who knew of Boyd...but didn’t know of his contribution to Desert Storm planning. Perhaps not surprisingly I did find any number of Air Force friends who knew of pilot Boyd’s contributions to maneuver conflict strategy.For those curious about Boyd’s OODA Loop (aka the Boyd Cycle), I’ve included a Wikipedia graphic.Bottom-line, I highly recommend Coram’s book for any serious student of strategy.Of possible interest: Strategy Pure and Simple: Essential Moves for Winning in Competition and Cooperation andGeorge Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key – the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul, a best-seller at Mount Vernon. “Character is Key for Liberty!”
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Top reviews from the United States

EnsembleMan
5.0 out of 5 stars Good history of an interesting man and his friends
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
The Pentagon is a stupid organization more concerned with big contracts and money. People and useful weapons are in third place.

That is the main theme here.

John Boyd and his associates did great work and showed how horrible the F4, F111, and B1 were. Tens of billions of wasted dollars

Boyd was a great pilot, teacher, historian of warfare and an engineer

He worked to hard and that was not good for his family

But he saved lives in Desert Storm and made great fighter pilots who flew less agile planes than the Russians provided our opponents

A bit long but worth a read
One person found this helpful
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Dianne Roberts
5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Bio That Can't Help But Be Extremely Insightful
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2006
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This is a pretty good biography, about an extraordinary man and his contributions. Just by telling the story of Boyd's life and what he did he necessarily conveys many of Boyd's ideas, and shows the path of how they were developed. The book, in and of itself, is a good read: interesting, fun, and you want to keep on reading to see what happens next, or to hear the details of a "future" event that has been alluded to already in the text. The writing is fluid and easy to read. The one drawback is that at times it seems to overly idolize people and places and concepts that were prominent in Boyd's life, or to overly trash the F-15 (which has a 100+ to 0 combat record by the way . . . ) the M1 Abrams, the Bradley IFV, etc. That is, it doesn't come off as terribly objective or fair at times.

But this book is also extremely helpful and filled with excellent insights because that was the nature of Boyd's work. Some of the good things anyone can take away from this book include:

- Boyd's theory of learning -be especially sure to read the Appendix- and the explanation of how it came about

- Boyd's to be or to do philosophy in life, and the example of his integrity and honesty and desire to do something useful in life

- The ability of a guy with an IQ of 90 to become an major innovator through sheer hard work, introspection, continuous striving for learning and improvement, drive, focus on real accomplishment, not worrying about artificial restrictions or bending the rules, use of creativity, etc.

- The insidious nature of bureaucracy and how it becomes a self-serving and self-perpetuating organization that loses connection to its original and stated purpose

Aerospace, defense, and military personnel will also be particularly interested in things such as:

- How Maneuver Warfare came about and some minimal explanation of what it is

- The design histories and successes / failures of the F-111, F-15, F-16, B-1 and A-10

- The politics and workings of the military industrial complex and the Pentagon

- Comparison between the F-86 and MiG-15 in combat over Korea and why the F-86 emerged with a 10-to-1 kill ratio

- How Energy-Maneuverability theory came about and influenced fighter tactics and aircraft design

- A brief introduction to the OODA loop as a guiding tool for conflict

- The hierarchy between people, ideas, and technology in fighting wars

This book is highly recommended, and especially so to all aerospace / defense industry / military people
10 people found this helpful
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REL Stuart
4.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth the Read
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2011
Verified Purchase
I got this book in the mail yesterday and finished about 2:30 this morning. John Boyd had many personal flaws. He was arrogant, loud, profane, rude, and uncouth. (And the book reflects that.) He sacrificed his family to his job. Not acceptable. However, his greatest characteristic was that he was willing to do what was right for the Air Force and the military no matter what it took or who disagreed. When he knew he was right he stood on it, waiving his cigar, and preached. My favorite quote: "Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments. Or you can go that way and you can do something - something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors but you won't have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?"

His contributions to the American fighting man and the Armed Forces are so significant that he did indeed change the face of war. And his contributions often had to be shoved down the throat of the military as they resisted kicking and screaming. He wrote the book on fighter tactics. On his own initiative He created the Energy-Maneuverability Theory (E-M Theory) for the first time using mathematical principles to create an accurate grading system for the overall performance of airplanes resulting in winning the highest awards for scientific achievement the Air Force gives out. (The Air force was and still does spend millions on some of the brightest scientific minds to further American Air Power. You can bet they were red faced when a nobody Fighter pilot created a new theory that changed the face of air war forever and he did it without any help from the bureaucracy.) He developed and re-emphasized Sun Tzu's Maneuver Warfare possibly becoming the greatest influence in winning the Panama conflict and Desert Storm. He invented the OODA loop* which is used not just by the military but has broad application to all human interactions and endeavors. The Marines re-wrote their war fighting manual because of him. The remember and honor him and his contribution though the Air Force while teaching his discovery and application of his E-M Theory are doing their best to keep him one of the most influential forgotten men in recent history. His work was directly responsible for the F-15, F-16, and the A-10. The main portion of the AF brass at the Pentagon fought very hard against these planes for various reasons.

This book is worth reading especially if you are part of the military industrial complex, interested in the military acquisitions process, care about how tax payer monies are spent in the military, are interested in the history of fighter pilot tactics, or are interested in the OODA loop* which can be easily applied to business. Because Col Boyd was a very controversial person and not a great team player I doubt this book will be on the CSAF's recommended reading list. But Perhaps it should be.

It takes about a third of the book before you get beyond the man to the legend.

*[...]
3 people found this helpful
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Luis Quinonez
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
Excellent book and should be mandatory reading at the pentagon, Congress and all the academies. It describes the roots of military waste and bad investments m. It makes readers wonder how we have survived and won the wars.
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T. M. Vazquez
5.0 out of 5 stars Conocimiento poco usual y valioso.
Reviewed in Mexico on May 14, 2020
Verified Purchase
Maravilloso libro, es un tema y autor poco investigados y tiene una utilidad muy alta. Lo recomiendo para quienes quieran mejorar su estrategia frente a la vida, especialmente el generar cambios en burocracias.

Hay mucha ciencia, cosa que en libros similares no hay, esto no es un libro de autoayuda.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Evolução do Pensamento Militar
Reviewed in Brazil on May 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
A obra apresenta a vida do Coronel Boyd e como ele influenciou tanto as táticas de combate, os projetos das modernas aeronaves da USAF, nos anos 70 e 80, e como ele revolucionou o pensamento militar, com a fusão de várias teorias militares em seus brifins e papers, culminando com a teoria do ciclo OODA.
One person found this helpful
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Zerberus
5.0 out of 5 stars Für Flugzeugbegeisterte!
Reviewed in Germany on June 23, 2020
Verified Purchase
Nicht für mich, aber als Geschenk für einen Freund der eine Ausbildung bei der Bundeswehr als Pilot macht.

Er war komplett begeistert von dem Buch, also eine klare Empfehlung von meiner Seite.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
Reviewed in Italy on June 8, 2018
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Libro molto interessante, che apre uno spaccato insolito sugli scenari politici e tecnici del Pentagono, di chi ci lavoroa e dei decisori politici americani del tempo.
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ReadingWritings
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellently Awesome and Unputdownable
Reviewed in India on May 28, 2018
Verified Purchase
Sometimes one single book has the power to get you thinking for a long time. I picked up this book for the sheer personal interest I have in the subject it dealt with. Be it the term Fighter Pilot or Art of War, both are topics close to my heart. So it was but natural that I put aside all other books and read this one on top priority.

The book deals with the professional and personal life of John Boyd, a man who is revered by the Military fraternity around the world. It gives a peek into the life of a military strategist whose profound thoughts were way ahead of the times and era he lived in.

Robert Coram, as a biographist, has brought out the facts as accurately as he could. In fact, this is one biography that is gripping from beginning till the end. His language is simple. The military jargons used have been explained in a manner that can be comprehended even by people from the civvy street. As a military history enthusiast, this book definitely intrigued me since the very first page. The narration is fast paced and has a smooth flow. Loved the imageries that this story helped me conjure in my mind. I sincerely wish this story gets a motion picture dedicated to it. Even then I doubt whether it can do justice to the larger than life persona that Boyd was.

Reading the book reminded me of the similarities between Boyd and Nicholas Tesla. Both were recognised for their constributions to their respective field posthumously. What makes the narrative more appealing is the realistic depiction of a Fighter Pilot who is also a military strategist. An aviator who placed service before self, who compromised his family requirements in the larger interest of his country.

Boyd belonged to an era that was not very kind to visionaries. However, in today's parlance, his briefing and OODA loop concept have immense importance. In fact, Boyd's theory has significance in every field, be it education or administration. Well that, is a topic for another day.

To sum up, this book is a must read not only for military strategy enthusiasts but also for every individual who wants to have a different perspective to life. It is an inspirational read for every person who wants to be a Boyd in a world of mediocrity and mediocre thinking. It is simply unputdownable. An excellently awesome book.

P.S - Thank you Robert for leading me on an inward journey of self discovery, for helping me search the Boyd within me. Loved every word in it. This review is my honest opinion after reading the book.
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