Into the Teeth of the Tiger

Vintage paperback

Into the Teeth of the Tiger provides a vivid, pilot's-eye view of one of the most extended projections of American air power in World War II Asia. Lopez chronicles every aspect of fighter combat in that theater: harrowing aerial battles, interludes of boredom and inactivity, instances of courage and cowardice. Describing different pilots' roles in each type of mission, the operation of the P-40, and the use of various weapons, he tells how he and his fellow pilots faced not only constant danger but also the munitions shortages, poor food, and rat-infested barracks in a remote sector of the war. The author also offers keen observations of wartime China, from the brutalities of the Japanese occupation to the conflict between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and the Communist movement.