Rating: 
Summary: Stephen Ambrose, Meet Noam Chomsky!
Review: Flyboys has many interesting features such as the history of Japanese/American relations, the rise of Japanese militarism and distortion of the Bushido concept, brutal American treatment of indigenous peoples in the eras prior to World War II, insights into the Japanese homefront and view of American bombing during the Second World War, and barbarism on both sides in the Pacific. Bradleys's view seems to be that although the Japan of World War II was an evil force, Americans are not spotless either. Although uncomfortable for me to read, it was useful to be exposed to another perspective. Yet the book's subtitle is "A True Story of Real Courage." I suppose that means the story of theAmerican fliers in the Pacific. Thus Flyboys is sort of like a blending of Stephen Ambrose and Noam Chomsky into a single author. Unfortunately, I found the part dealing with American fliers to be quite boring to read. I did not learn anything new and the charicatures were dull. It simply does not work in the context of the rest of book. Readers expecting a heroic, gripping, and satisfying story of the American air war in the Pacific will be dissappointed. Since this assumption is why most people purchased or borrowed the book, they were in a sense betrayed. In conclusion, Flyboys is worth reading, but not for what the book's title implies.
Rating: 
Summary: Scattered and Inconsistent
Review: Hmmmm.......where to start. A friend offered a loan of this book. When I first saw the title, my thoughts were "this guy's a yahoo". I read the back flap of the dust cover and noted that absolutely nothing is written about the author's past other than he wrote a book about his father, leafed through the book, checked out the photo captions, looked up 'bush' in the index, read a bit about bush, and came to the conclusion this guy is not only a yahoo, he is a yahoo with an over inflated ego sucking up to a modern day war criminal. I turned the offer down. But my curiosity was piqued, so I ran a search on this book on the web and read a few 'revues'. What struck me was that no one mentioned the obvious hokum about bush and many were 'upset' the author discussed American war atrocities as well as Japanese (gasp, horror of horrors). This odd combination of foolishness changed my mind and I took up my friend's offer and borrowed the book. Well. It turns out my first impression was correct. The terminology he uses (flyboys, spirit warriors, etc.) is just plain childish and the book reads like a second rate television documentary. The author is no historian. There is so much historical inaccuracy about the war, I question whether the detailed history of the flyers itself is very accurate and not just the author using testimony and quotations out of context. The one thing I do commend about this book is the author does make an attempt to show that there were decent and monstrous people involved on both sides and that the historical past of the USA is not the diaper filler passed on by Hollywood, 5th Avenue and in the high school history books that most Americans never get beyond and believe to be fact. His general historical background of the USA and Japan at the beginning of the book is the most accurate and interesting part of this book. As the book progresses, his historical and technical accuracy plummets. Unfortunately, he doesn't delve deep enough, nor check his sources for accuracy. He gets some things correct, but is wide of the mark on others. Examples. In the accounts of bush's activities, there is no mention of Chester Mierzejewksi as a witness. Why? Look it up on the web. His information about the Coral Sea battle is dead wrong. Bradley mentions the Japanese fear of encirclement by the 'ABCD' countries, yet gives no reason why and leaves one with the impression it was just paranoia by the 'Spirit Warriors'. Wrong again. It was not paranoia. Europe and the US had shut Japan out of their colonies in the Far East. Just about everything about Hirohito is out of context and dead wrong. The background of Mitchell's bomb tests on the ships is wrong, not to mention the nauseating hero worship of that general. The reason for stalin not going to war with Japan is completely misrepresented and the background why is non-existent. The background to the Allied terror bombing campaign is also inaccurate. Just about every detailed piece of information about naval vessels is wrong. The reasons behind the invasion of Iwo Jima - wrong (one would think he would have at least got that right - considering his previous attempt). The bombing casualties of the Dresden raid. Wrong. In fact he consistently uses the lowest estimates of casualties committed by American and Allied forces. The events surrounding the atomic bombing are completely skewed and again, the author displays his shoddy scholarship with his hero worship of the war criminal tibbits and various other war criminals' involved in that crime. In fact, that is where I stopped reading. Historical fiction is entertaining, but only if the author makes it so. Bradley does not. Someone made a comparison of this hack job with works by Noam Chomsky. No even close. Chomsky does his homework, Bradley read a book. In his short essay, 'On the Backgrounds of the Pacific War' ( http://www.chomsky.info/articles/196709--.htm ), Chomsky provides far more understanding of Japanese behaviour leading up to WW2 than Bradley does in all of Flyboys. While the book had a promising beginning, the rest doesn't measure up, neither as a historical work nor as a piece of quality prose.
Rating: 
Summary: a thought provoking look at the pacific conflict
Review: Wow, what an amazing book. This is a difficult read, not because it is hard to understand what the author is explaining, but because it stirs so many emotions within, not the least of which is a familiar sorrow for the victims (on both the side of the loser and the side of the victor) of war. Bradley does an excellent job of portraying the horrors of warfare and he does so in a fair manner. One of the best things about this book is that Bradley does not submit to a hackneyed version of patriotism by villifying the Japanese and commending the US as rightful and morally superior conquerers; he instead points out that atrocities of war are committed by all sides and that there is no true right or wrong in the end - just shades of gray. The most meaningful parts of the book are the accounts of survivors, both American and Japanese, who acknowledge the horrors they endured but who have learned to forgive, if not forget. And after reading the stories of these eight flyboys, one realizes that there is no forgetting for anyone involved in war. This is an even-handed and masterful account of two nations in conflict and Bradley deserves recognition for his abilities to portray even the most grisly events with dignity and sensitivity.
Rating:
Summary: Not about heroic "flyboys"
Review: The author describes the bombing of German and Japanese cities sounding off as if he is writing an op/ed article. When he does speak of the "flyboys" the book is supposed to cover he describes their torture and beheading with no intended or practical purpose. Why would the author lure the reader into believing the book would be about a certain number of "flyboys" that were captured by the Japanese only to bombard the reader with anti-strategic bombing commentary of two brutal and fanatical countries that started World War II? This book is misleading to say the least. James Bradley's primary story is some personal resentment and not about the fate of the "flyboys." His first attempt at history (Flags of Our Fathers) was a success. His second attempt with "Flyboys" is a dismal failure.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Incredible
Review: This book is one of the finest books ever written on the Pacific War and I have read many. It moved me to tears on multiple occasions. The negative reviews all have the same theme in that they seem to feel US actions examined here are given unfair treatment. The bottom line is that you can't argue with the facts and statistics he presents concerning American actions. These negative reviewers are at odds with the architect of the fire bombing itself, Curtis LeMay who knows they would have been found guilty of war crimes had we lost (not to mention many senior military officials of the time that were against these actions). You can argue the rights, wrongs and perceptions of these events, but that does not change the fact that they occurred. Anyway, like E.B. Sledges' "With the Old Breed", this is war at it's very worst and should serve as warning to those who continue with militiristic thinking.
Rating:
Summary: Terribly researched, dismally written
Review: In his first marvelous work, Flags of Our Fathers, Bradley must have received a lot of help from his co-author Ron Powers. That book was compelling and insightful. Going it alone this time, his new work is neither...in fact, it's a huge propaganda campaign aimed to woo the friends of his youthful Japanese study period. In his first book, Bradley recounts an incident with his father where he's deriding the Americans in WWII and praising the Japanese...not knowing what his father had endured, and what the Japanese had done to his father's best friend on Iwo Jima. He acknowledged in the book his immensely naive and offensive (to his veteran father) opinions. THE LESSON DIDN'T STICK, because he's done it again, this time playing pseudo-historian in his attempts to paint Americans as culpable for the Japanese attitudes and behaviors. Reprehensible is the term that comes to mind as one reads his poorly researched diatribes. One need only check the back of the book to discover that Bradley read one or two opinionated books in an area and used their views as comprehensive histories to support his own pre-formed opinions. After "Fathers" I had Bradley on a must-read list. Now he's moved to the "never again" list...this book is that bad. Its a shame too, because the sacrifice of the men he purports to make the center of his account are used for his own selfish campaign, a literary crime of immense insensitivity. He owes the families of the Flyboys a stark and unqualified apology.
Rating:
Summary: Relentless
Review: Bradley overuses the word "flyboy"- at least 1 million times. It reminds me of the Dizzy Gillespie song "Salt Peanuts". You go along for the ride, and there it is "Salt Peanuts. Salt Peanuts." You go along with Bradley and there it is "Flyboy. Flyboy." How about "Pilot" or "Aviator"? It's distracting. I can only imagine Bradley must have won a round of rock/paper/scissors with his editor to be able to include it as many times as he did. Other than that, a compelling gut-wrenching read.
Rating: 
Summary: It could have been a good book
Review: It could have been a good book if Bradley had kept to the story of the nine American flyers, but he spends far too much time blaming Americans for fire bombing cities and strafing civilians. Bradley leads the reader to believe that the Japanese turned murderous and savage only after American's landed on their islands in the 1800's. He gives little/no background on their conflicts before that. They were cutting off the noses and notching the ears of Koreans long before Perry showed up. Save your money, don't buy this book. It's nothing more than P.C., blame America first pap. It's just too bad, this could have been a good book if Bradley stuck to the Flyboys. DB
Rating:
Summary: Great read for the "blame America first" crowd...
Review: I really loved Flag of Our Fathers. An excellent book from cover to cover. I found myself thinking of my grandfather with pride and thankfulness when reading Bradley's account of his own father. Flyboys had to be good, right? Wrong. I'm only 80 pages in and have yet to come across the subject of the title. Instead I've been treated to a "hate America" diatribe of epic proportions. If Bradley loves (or even likes) his country, he hides it well. He's hidden his "America is the great white devil" agenda in the sheep's clothing of pretending to be a tribute to American courage. I hope the book gets good soon, otherwise I may not have the intellectual stomach to read the rest of it. If you buy this book, skip at least the first 80 pages.
Rating:
Summary: If Bradley's Father Were Alive, . . .
Review: I think he'd have few words for his son. And they wouldn't be kind words. After having read
"Flags of Our Fathers" and enjoying it immensely, I was expecting something of similar
flavor and feeling with Flyboys. (Disclosure: I've only read the first 10 chapters.) In a book that delves deeply into the background of Japanese and American fighting rather
than focusing on the Flyboys, speaks of the ill-formed ideologies of both countries (he
seems to lump all religions, particularly Christianity, into the same boat with those who
used religion as a cover to their demonic hatred), Bradley tries to speak to both sides of
the Pacific, but ends up winning no one over. He compares Japanese atrocities of war and
all of their barbaric conquests to those made by Americans (YES, there is some truth to
this), but then goes on and on in chapter 10 "Yellow Devils, White Devils" about how we
Americans are nothing like them. The patriotic language and tone in chapters 4, 7 and 8 (Billy Mitchell's prophesying, intro
to the Flyboys, and the Doolittle Raid) contrast sharply with the other of the first ten
chapters. So far, I am left wondering what the real message is. Are we Americans just like them? We
ALL knew about the slaughtering going on during WWII by American Soldiers, didn't we? We
are ALL guilty of the atrocities, or are at least lead to feel guilty. I do feel awful
about how we treated the Native Americans, Mexicans, Japanese, and any others who were "not
like us", but that doesn't mean that the Japanese were justified in THEIR torturing and
killing (and eating) of defenseless POWs. Our soldiers were just like theirs weren't they? The Marines that fought with Bradley's
father on Iwo were just like the Japanese. The men whose motto was "No Man Left Behind"
were the same as the men who killed themselves instead of surrendering. The same as the men
who killed their own wounded comrades so as not to divert resources from the fight. America is just like Japan, isn't it? Or maybe it's worse? I mean, Bradley even goes so far
as to allude to the idea that Abraham Lincoln was a white supremacist. (Uh, remember the
Civil War?) O.K, so we're just like them. We're all murderers, all guilty. But wait.
Chapter 10. We're nothing like them! Which is it? My only guess for why Bradley did this is that while wanting to tell the world what
happened to the Flyboys on Chichi Jimi, he did not want to offend those who had been so
helpful in contributing to the book, namely the Japanese (veterans) whose stories made the
book complete. I'm sure Bradley has made friendships with some of them over the past few
years. There's nothing wrong with that, but what about the perspective of the Flyboys? What
about the Marines on Iwo, Guadalcanal, and everywhere else? What about Bradley's father?
What about their perspective? My message is this. America is a land like no other. The 50 states of which it's comprised
are like no other country in the history of the world and, I can only guess, like no other
country will ever be. America's ends do not justify the means, but the means do not negate
the glorious freedom that we have as a whole. There is still hatred and killing and racism,
but that shouldn't diminish the good we can do and have done. I wish I could re-write some
of America's history. I wish we had been more understanding of differences. I wish we had
been more willing to forgive. But to say that America has no right to be angry over what
happened on December 7th, 1941 or to even elude to that idea, is a slap in the face to all
who so willing joined the cause, without compulsion, and sacrificed their yesterdays, so
that we could have our todays. If it had not been for them -- every single one of them --
we'd probably be reading this in Japanese. Or German. Or, more likely, not at all. I doubt there are many Americans who would gladly give up their citizenship in this country
for that of any other.
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