Author Topic: books (Read 971 times)

cav58d · « **on:** December 29, 2005, 10:27:32 PM »

Couple books have caught my eye and im thinking of ordering them...Looking for reviews or suggestions...

1- Dumb but lucky: Confessions of a P-51 Fighter Pilot in WWII (Richard K. Curtis)

2- The Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II (Bruce Gamble)

3- The Blond Knight of Germany : A Biography of Erich Hartmann

4- I Flew for the Fuhrer (Heinz Knoke)

5- Fate is the Hunter- (Ernest Kellogg Gann)

Thanks...Cav

38ruk · « **Reply #1 on:** December 29, 2005, 10:42:26 PM »

1- Dumb but lucky: Confessions of a P-51 Fighter Pilot in WWII (Richard K. Curtis)

2- The Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II (Bruce Gamble)

1
It was OK , not real detailed combat accounts , i think he fired his guns air to air once or twice . Not very technical as far as flying the 51 either . A fair read, i would never say it was a bad book for i have too much respect for anyone who served and flew a 51 in combat .
2
Good book , read it 2 years ago so dont remember alot of details , do remember that he kinda picked boyington's storys apart and seperated the facts from the myths. 38

LYNX · « **Reply #2 on:** December 29, 2005, 10:54:55 PM »

4 Hienz knoke fantastic read..the poor bugger. Some nazi anti commie stuff to err set the pace?

cav58d · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2005, 02:39:06 AM »

I have heard awesome reviews on Heinz Knokes book, im pumped to read it.....How about harttmans book, theres got to be atleast one of you luftwaffe nuts who have read it...?

pipz · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2005, 07:15:05 AM »

To Fly and Fight ...Anderson
Nine Lives.....Deere
The Jolly Rogers....Blackburn
Horrido Fighter Aces Of The Luftwaffe...I forget who wrote that
Wing Leader...Johnson
Thunderbolt.....another Johnson
The First and The Last...Galland
Samuri.....Sakai
Baa Baa Blacksheep....Boyington
The Big Show....Clostermann

These are some of the books I have.All of them were a great read.1st person accounts that put ya in the cockpit.Knoke's book was a good one too.If your into the Luftwaffe Id highly recomend"Horrido Fighter Aces Of the Luftwaffe"

"A bandit at you six is better than no bandit at all"
Pipz

Howitzer · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2005, 01:36:24 PM »

Not to take anything away from Pipz recommendations, but I read Baa Baa Blacksheep by Boyington, and I didn't care for it very much. Everyone has different tastes, but I was to the point at the end of the book where I just read it just so I could say that I finished it for the sake of not wasting money when I bought it. His first person accounts were pretty good, but I've also heard that they were somewhat suspect. Also, he seems to go out of his way in this book to portray himself as a degenerate loser with a drinking problem. It may be true... but he tries way to hard to get it across. Just my thoughts.

Panzzer · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2005, 02:32:10 PM »

I just finished reading Gunther Rall's autobiography, fascinating book IMO. I don't know if it's already available in English (the Finnish version I read just came out in the end of November, while the original German book is from 2004). About 2 thirds of the book was WWII, the rest from Rall's career in Bundesluftwaffe (and NATO).

wojo71 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 30, 2005, 05:44:05 PM »

Speaking of books anybody who lives near a halfprice bookstore in the D/FW area they have some good one's cheep ,Flight manuals for the spit V and Hurc II ..real RAF reprints and german aircraft and armaments summery No. 44-32 (official WW II I.D. manual ) all these are brand new and under 10 bucks. My wife hates this store almost as much as she hates this game:lol

Waffle · « **Reply #8 on:** December 30, 2005, 06:22:13 PM »

"How to be a Ho" by Velvet Jones

BTW - that the 1/2 price off NW highway, i believe? (the bookstore, not the ho's...gotta see H.Hines about that)

wojo71 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 30, 2005, 06:31:28 PM »

The one I was at was cooper street in arlington ,but the clerk said "most" of the stores should have them because they they are new stock..................Harry Hines.......... the street too tuff to die....... ...My parents owned a biker bar there for 10 years ........everything was for sale on Harry Hines,;)

BisonCH · « **Reply #10 on:** December 31, 2005, 06:52:05 AM »

I too enjoy aviation history. A nice book that you may also enjoy is :

"The War Diary of Hauptmann Helmut Lipfert"
JG52 On the Russian Front 1943-1945

This is a translation of his diary. Gives personal information regarding his experiences during mission and how he engaged the Russian aircraft on the western front. Also towards the end of the War he talks about his engagements with US forces. Overall an interesting read.

Enjoy!
BisonCH

Furball · « **Reply #11 on:** December 31, 2005, 06:58:33 AM »

One to add, a must get is Douglas Bader's autobiography 'Reach for the Sky'. An absolutely incredible 'character' is the best way to describe him.

Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson is also a good one.

If you want to go First World War too, i recomment 'Flying Fury, Five Years in The Royal Flying Corps' by James McCudden and 'Saggitarius Rising' by Cecil Lewis

pipz · « **Reply #12 on:** December 31, 2005, 01:02:32 PM »

Yo Panzzer
Ralls book is available in English.I bought it some time ago when it came out.A great book by a great man.He realy accomplished a lot with his life.During and after the war.I found the storys of the Starfighters and the post war Luftwaffe interesting.He seemed like one of those guys with no end to his stamina.Is he still alive?I know in the early 90s when I saw him in interviews he looked like he was 50 years old.He was prolly 70 at the time.

Pipz

DoKGonZo · « **Reply #13 on:** December 31, 2005, 01:21:34 PM »

"Messershmitts Over Sicily" - Johannes Steinhoff

Panzzer · « **Reply #14 on:** December 31, 2005, 01:31:58 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by pipz
Yo Panzzer
Ralls book is available in English.I bought it some time ago when it came out.A great book by a great man.He realy accomplished a lot with his life.During and after the war.I found the storys of the Starfighters and the post war Luftwaffe interesting.He seemed like one of those guys with no end to his stamina.Is he still alive?I know in the early 90s when I saw him in interviews he looked like he was 50 years old.He was prolly 70 at the time.

Pipz

Yes, he is still alive. I saw him in 2003 when he was visiting Finland (link).