Astor - The mighty eighth: the air war in Europe as told by the men who fought it

PRAISE FOR THE MIGHTY EIGHTH

No one does oral history better than Gerald Astor... here the men of the mightiest air force ever built tell their story in their own wordsof trials, tribulations, triumphs, terror, and tedium.

Stephen Ambrose, author of Band of Brothers

Bold, brawny, epic in scope... Astor captures the fire and passion of these tens of thousands of U.S. airmen who flew through the inferno that was the bomber war over Europe.

Stephen Coonts, author of The Red Horseman

[Astors] many interviews of American airmen turn up some fascinating anecdotes, catching the grim realities of air combat in a way that more conventional strategic histories cannot... Revealing and vivid personal sketches of the quiet heroes in a unit that suffered more lives lost than the entire Marine Corps in WWII.

Kirkus Reviews

The first-person testimony of these courageous men is invaluable in terms of understanding both the process of protracted war and its effect on the human spirit. Their anecdotes are fascinating... Excelling in weaving these stories into a broader analysis of the Eighths role in the air war with Germany, Astor demonstrates once again that hes one of the most accomplished oral historians at work today.

Publishers Weekly

Astor stitches together about a hundred eyewitness experiences of the combat, linking them with a workmanlike narrative of the battles course. Here he presents the saga, frequently disastrous, of American daylight bombing against Germany... Riveting vignettes of dogfights and destruction.

Booklist

Gerald Astor has proven himself a master. Here, World War II is brought to life through the hammer blows of their airborne triumphs and fears. This book should be of interest to anyone who fought that waror any warin the air, and those who want to understand what combat was like for the airmen and their leaders.

J. Robert Moskin, author of American Statecraft

ALSO BY GERALD ASTOR

Wings of Gold: The U.S. Naval Air Campaign in World War II

The Jungle War: Mavericks, Marauders, and Madmen in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II

The Bloody Forest: Battle for the Hurtgen September 1944January 1945

Crisis in the Pacific: The Battles for the Philippine Islands by the Men Who Fought Them

Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II

Battling Buzzards: The Odyssey of the 517th Regimental Parachute Combat Team 19431945

A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It

The Last Nazi: The Life and Times of Joseph Mengele

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THE MIGHTY EIGHTH

Copyright 1997 by Gerald Astor.

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eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-19712-1

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Dutton hardcover edition / June 1997

Dell mass-market edition / November 1998

Berkley Caliber trade paperback edition / September 2015

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the author nor the publisher is responsible for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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For those who flew and those who backed them up on the ground, and for Sonia who has been so supportive and given me wings.