Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal

Rating:
Summary: A must read for Aviators
Review: An excellent source of inspiration for Marine Aviators. I was touched by the courage of those brave men and any reader who thinks that the book was merely war driven propaganda knows very little about US Marines. The resolve and selflessness of the men of the Cactus Air Force parrallelled that of the Spartans at Thermopylae.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE WORST
Review: Bear in mind the fact that this book was written in a rush during Second War II. IT has no style, only a brief journalistic merit. It has almost none combat action, only patriotic praises to the brave and heroic Marine aviators. The reviewer who said that they were like the Spartans at Thermopylae must be joking...

Rating:
Summary: VERY BAD
Review: Books written during the War normally are very bad, like "GOD IS MY CO-PILOT", for example. There is censorship problem, excess of patriotism, total lack of informations concerning the other side (the enemy side)and narrative tales normally full of hate for the enemy (of course). This is another book. The writer, an accomplished newsman, really tried to write a good book, but it failed miserably. For you, an air-combat reader, this will be a great deception...

Rating:
Summary: FIghter squadron at guadalcanal - so what??!!
Review: Hastily written still during the war, this book is nothing more than war-time propaganda, when "Brave AMericans" at the cited VMF Marine fighter squadron defeats the dumb and evil Japanese. THe book has no coehesion, it was clearly written without the benefit of enemy sources, it has almost none description of air combat, all in all is so boring and adds almost none new information for those even vaguely familiar with the war in the Pacific. A total waste of time, I tell you.

Rating:
Summary: FIghter squadron at guadalcanal - so what??!!
Review: Hastily written still during the war, this book is nothing more than war-time propaganda, when "Brave AMericans" at the cited VMF Marine fighter squadron defeats the dumb and evil Japanese. THe book has no coehesion, it was clearly written without the benefit of enemy sources, it has almost none description of air combat, all in all is so boring and adds almost none new information for those even vaguely familiar with the war in the Pacific. A total waste of time, I tell you.

Rating:
Summary: Competent contemporary journalistic novel
Review: Max Brand will impress the person willing to place himself in the timeframe of the conflict. This is a writer who relates to his real-life characters, revealing their otherwise unspoken fears as they face an enemy superior in numbers, equipment and training. Yes, you must separate out patriotic fervor to meet the objective descriptions sometimes hidden just below the surface. And thankfully it's not another action book, loaded with nothing but sensational battle descriptions that eventually dull the senses to otherwise vital character and storyline development. There is a reason why Max Brand is one of America's most prolific writers of a vast span of subject material - he is simply a professional who produces readable prose. If you want Star Wars, look elsewhere. If you want to investigate the stuff of the men who fought the fight, check out this only account of Max Brand's visit to the Pacific Theater.

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect everything, but you can't find better!
Review: Max Brand's daughter, Jane Faust, did the community a favor by publishing her father's manuscript some 50+ years after it was written. This is as close to the bone and to the source of history the as you can get, not clouded by the 20-20 hindsight of 'historians'. This account describes the perilous work to establish a foothold for bases in the South Pacific in the days soon following the attack on Pearl Harbor. This was imperative for the U.S. and its allies to establish bases to keep the Japanese from taking the entire Pacific area, including Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. This exact and precise description is how VMF 212 Fighter Squadron's C.O. Joe Bauer recruited and trained his pilots to the standard of those who followed including Boyington (VMF 214), Blackburn (VF 17), and Morrell (VMF 216).

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect everything, but you can't find better!
Review: Max Brand's daughter, Jane Faust, did the community a favor by publishing her father's manuscript some 50+ years after it was written. This is as close to the bone and to the source of history the as you can get, not clouded by the 20-20 hindsight of 'historians'. This account describes the perilous work to establish a foothold for bases in the South Pacific in the days soon following the attack on Pearl Harbor. This was imperative for the U.S. and its allies to establish bases to keep the Japanese from taking the entire Pacific area, including Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. This exact and precise description is how VMF 212 Fighter Squadron's C.O. Joe Bauer recruited and trained his pilots to the standard of those who followed including Boyington (VMF 214), Blackburn (VF 17), and Morrell (VMF 216).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent insite about Guadacanal strategy
Review: This book is a snap shot in time from the mouths of the Marines who made the history of Guadalcanal. The author compiled the story of the legendary 212th Marine Fighter Squadron by interviewing members of the squadron on leave in California. Because many of the pilots, and the author himself, returned to fight and die in combat their accounts of battle are true history undilluted by editors and contemporary cultural bias. This is a great story of triumph over adversity. Of Marines cutting an airstrip out of the jungle while fighting off mosquitos, monsoons, malaria and the Japanese. Don't expect War and Peace; the author cuts right to the point and tells the story in a journalistic "war correspondent" style. But as a Marine, that's how I think the boys on Guadalcanal would have wanted their stories told. Semper Fi.

Rating:
Summary: LOUSY !
Review: THis boos was written during the War, and it is full of patriotic messages. There's endless ans boring narratives about the daily dificculties facing the pilots, the ground crew, etc, etc, but almost nothing of air combat and, when it happens, the brave Americans simply smashes the dumb Japanese! Horrible!