Hi ammo.
I've read four on your list. Here's what I thought:
Aces Against Japan:
Awsome. Lots of in the cockpit action. A collection of scattered short accounts. A very quick read that left me wanting more. I want to find the others in this series.
I Flew for the Fuhrer:
Very good. An account of one man's fight in a 109 against endless stream after stream of B-17s. He gets shot down many times and severely wounded a few times as well. He also looses almost all of his friends and squadmates as they get chopped out of the sky. A great story about what it was like flying every single day with not a lot of hope for a happy ending. Pretty brutal book.
Luftwaffe Fighter Aces:
Very good. Mostly about tactics. Not too much first person cockpit action.
Blonde Knight:
Good. His story is amazing and I think this book could have been more exciting. I liked it but there just seems to be something missing. It is also heartbreaking to see how close he came to avoiding capture by the Russians. He surrendered to the US but was turned over to the Russians and ended up spending 10 years in a Russian heavy labor camp. The last half of the book concerns this horrific piece of his young life.
A few of my favorites not on your list:
Stuka Pilot by Hans Ulrich Rudel (I can't remember the spelling of his name)
He destroyed over 500 tanks and flew the ageing Stuka through to the end of the war. Hitler had to design a medal especially for him. He gets shot down, captured, escapes, loses limbs, lands in a tree, etc. An amazing story that should be made into a movie.
Flights of Passage by Samuel Hynes
This is really strange choice because it is a book about an American dive bomber pilot who basically misses the war. He goes on many missions but sees only a little action. But the book is a poetic masterpiece. This man loves to fly and his descriptions of every aspect of his training, flying, and fighting are superb. I kept re-reading passages marvelling at his literary genius.
Fighter Pilot (The First American Ace of World War II) by William R. Dunn
A great book by a grizzled fighter pilot who flew Hurricanes, Spits, P-40s, P-47s, P-51s. He also tested P-39s, P-38s, some others. He gives his frank opions about each plane which is fascinating. His writing style is great. It is the opposite of Hynes (above)- No pretty language or poetry just factual accounts in plain english told with a straight face, most of the time. Parts are quite funny and there is a really great description of his being shot down where he basically resigns himself to Death.
Hope that helps a little. Forgive the length of the post.
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RUST
[This message has been edited by rust (edited 09-25-2000).]
