Very good book about a Japanese pilot.
357341
Great read. Quite riveting. The war through the eyes of a Kate torpedo bomber pilot and his miraculous survival.
3405956
This book is the best fighter pilot biography I have read. Bob Stanford Tuck was a fascinating character,he seems to have had no equal when it came to flying.  The action sequences in the book are riveting and the prose is  of an extremely high quality.  Although the subject matter is serious ,some  of the comments and stories are incredibly funny. For anyone who really  wants to know what flying in WW2 was like, this book is a must.
840286
One of the best written and most interesting books on aerial combat I ever read  truly spell binding.  This book is about a truly inspired pilot.
2732722
I really like this book. It's very informative and fun at the same time. Overall I recommend this book to anyone that would like to learn more about Japan.
3112667
Fantastic.  Being a pilot myself for 42 years I could visualize in my mind some of what the author went through during his flying career.  I was never shot at and can't imagine how terrible that must have been but I can remember a common thread in flying around bad weather, dealing with aircraft malfunctions, and when I had more guts than brains, getting into situations that were at the top of my experience level.

My father was a ground troop in WWII.  He was there during the invasion of Saipan and Tinian and won various metals during those campaigns.  He was on Tinian when the 509th and 504th went on bombing raids to Japan and when the Enola Gay went on its historic raid.  When the war was over he returned to the US, married my mom, and never spoke of the war except at very rare occasions.  I think he, like Gordon Robertson, wanted to forget what he had seen and probably had done.  He was a very forgiving person but I knew he had no tolerance for the Japanese.

I have read stories of the Japanese military's atrocities during WWII but after reading Robertson's account and feelings of what the Japanese military did I can get more insight into my own father's mind and feelings.

I wish my father had talked to me about this part of his life. He passed in 2001 but I am so glad that the author wrote this book. It is a great read and gave me a better understanding of what my father might have had to deal with.  Gordon and my father were very much alike.

Thank you for writing this book.
3842301
The book gives a very good insight into the reality of the air war in the Solomon Island/ New Guinea area.
It gives a more realistic picture of the day to day problems encountered in the area for both the Allies and Japanese.
The living conditions and the lack of adequate aircraft including the fact that the aircraft available in the early stages of the war were in many cases obsolescent, especially the fighters on the allied side. Maintenance capability was not up to later standards as could be seen by the high rate of unavailability for missions. In addition, the book revealed the problems of less than stellar leadership in the higher ranks.

Alll in all a fine history of a little known aspect of the war in that area of the world.
757449
Great book about airplanes, bombing missions, and the people who flew and work on them in Europe during WWII.
837794
Excellent book. Well written and well worth the money. This is a good pilot's eye perspective of the use of the P47 in the Pacific. Highly recommended.
815502
I happen to know the author, and pilots mentioned in the book.  While there is a considerable amount of history about the purchase and life of the aircraft, I was looking forward to reading more of the exploits of SDA and her pilots.  I know there are many more stories out there.  A good and easy read nevertheless.
473210
A very good book on the air war of WWII as seen through the eyes of pilots from both sides of the war.  How young men would rise to the skies day after day seeking to destroy each other yet in one short span of time one chooses life for his enemy.  Franz Stigler is not one of the better know German aces of the war but his story is one that could cover many of them. From airline pilot to instructor to fighter pilot and even jet pilot Franz excelled in his mastery of each phase of his career.  Charlie Brown is  very young B-17 pilot who takes on the responsibility of the lives of his crew and his aircraft, even when doing so could lead to his own demise. These two men meet long after the war and Franz is able to see what his actions have meant to Charlie and his surviving crew. I recommend this story on several levels for the technical and emotional factors covered within the book.
2746649
I really enjoyed this book, the p-61 is my favorite plane of WW2. I really enjoyed the fact that a friend of mine, (who has since passed on), was quoted several times in the text. His name is Phillip Guba and he was the squadron intelligence officer for the 422NFS. The author does an excellent job of covering all theatres that the P-61 flew in during WW2.
829498
Better WWII Bomber books concerning cockpit procedure and aviation terms, but a very compelling story.  Enjoyed the book very much, but wish the author had a pilot's perspective.
2926393
Really interesting and detailed book on the Japanese WW II merchant ship construction. It also briefly describes the wooden ships that were constructed during the war (page 85). The Japanese Type "A" was roughly equivalent to the American "Liberty" ship in length and deadweight tonnage. A major problem for the Japanese was that only 140 Type "A" ships were constructed compared to 2710 "Liberty" ships. Other Types are also described in the book, ranging from 10,000 to only 800 deadweight tons.

The book includes many black & white photos of the Japanese ships.

A couple of other books on this subject are as follows:

* "The Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II" by Parillo (1993);
* "Wartime Standard Ships" by Robins (2017). Chapter 13 describes the Japanese standard merchant ship designs during the war.
1396720
very good. The assessments of Japanese and American strengths and weaknesses as perceived by the author were very interesting. Definitely worth reading/listening to.
3649141
Good read.  Well written.  I like how it is a series of stories and not a linear history.  He also refrains from too much technical detail, history and development of the aircraft as some other books do.  I have read quite a few WWII fighter pilot biographies.  This is one of the better ones.
4416688
This is a well written and engaging story of Anna's experiences as a pilot during WWII.  The book is very personal and brings you inter her experiences.  It also shows the challenges she faced, being expected to be a capable pilot in a huge variety of aircraft.
1940901
The book arrived in time. Excellent book in regard to this type of information. This will be a gift for someone who really appreciates Japanese aircraft of World War 2.