Synopsis
Here, for the first time in a single volume, is the history of the mightiest air armada the world has ever seen, from its creation to its triumph in the Second World War - a story of brilliantly innovative military strategists and daring fliers who mastered challenges unprecedented in the history of warfare.
Beginning with the nascent Air Service's successful aerial search for the "Lost Battalion" during the Meuse-Argonne offensive of 1918, acclaimed military historian Geoffrey Perret brilliantly brings to life the people and the drama behind the great aerial offensives of World War II. Winged Victory tells the story of the battles and campaigns fought by the Army Air Forces around the world. Perret emphasizes the part played not only by the leading figures such as Arnold and Spaatz, but by famous bomber commanders such as Doolittle and LeMay; controversial airmen such as Chennault; fighter aces such as Bong and Gabreski; dynamic figures such as Philip Cochran and Casey Vincent (immortalized as Flip Corkin and Vince Casey in Terry and the Pirates); and many others whose leadership and bravery helped create an unbeatable fighting force.
Here, too, is the story of the development and combat history of the American fighters and bombers that eventually ruled the air, as well as a recreation of the most important air operations of the war: the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, the early fighting in the South Pacific, the invasion and victory in North Africa, the hard-fought battle for air superiority by the Eighth and Ninth air forces leading up to D-Day, and the strategic bombing offensives against Germany and Japan.
Drawing on new material - private diaries, letters, unpublished memoirs, plus unique access to the voluminous research for a biography of Hap Arnold that was never published - Winged Victory presents an indelible portrait of the drama and heroism of combat in the skies.
Reviews
With verve and elan, Perret ( There's a War to Be Won ) presents the epic narrative of American air power in the Second World War. On one level, he chronicles the work of energetic, single-minded military men--Henry "Hap" Arnold, Carl Spaatz, George Kenney and Curtis LeMay--with powerful civilians such as Robert Lovett (clarifying his role in linking the aviation industry with the Army Air Corps) and industrialist Donald Douglas, manufacturer of some of the warplanes that made up the great U.S. air armada. The book also covers wartime research & development: the evolution of engines, armament, armor plating, fuel tanks, gun sights, bomb sights and, above all, the testing and operational deployment of American warplanes. These planes included the P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47 and P-51 fighters and the B-17, B-24, B-25 and B-29 bombers. Each plane was distinctive in capability and characteristics, and Perret defines the differences in detail. Finally, his book offers vivid personal accounts by former pilots, bombadiers and turret gunners that convey the exhilaration and terror of aerial combat. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Perret's There's a War to be Won, to be Won (1991) examined the role of US Army ground troops in WW II. Here, the author focuses on the part played by the Army Air Forces in the same conflict, and also covers how WW I's fledgling Army Signal Corps air service evolved into the world's mightiest air force. But despite its exultant title, Perret's chronicle is one not only of a hard-won triumph but also of errors and terrors; of political battles for turf between and within the military services; of leaders with heads in the clouds and feet of clay; of American aircraft often inferior than that flown by our enemies; and of the heroism of--and sometimes horrifying price paid by--the bomber and fighter crews who had to fly through hell and back in order to attack their targets. Both a valuable military history, then, as well as a notable contribution to the long-running debate over the ability of air power alone to achieve national objectives. (Sixteen pages of b&w photos--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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