Rating: 
Summary: Not Ambrose-worthy
Review: I just finished "Wild Blue," and I must say it was a severe disappointment. When I heard that Mr. Ambrose was writing a book about World War II in the air, I was very excited. But, after reading "Ghost Soldiers," the story of the Bataan Death March, this book felt like it was run through a shredder and put back together in random order. I salute the bravery of McGovern, his crew, and the rest of the airment who helped win WWII, but somehow this narrative came out flat and lifeless. I, too, have read "Band of Brothers" and "Citizen Soldiers," and enjoyed them tremendously. This book just doesn't compare. Focusing on McGovern's tour of duty left out some of the most desperate fighting when the bomber crews faced not only the killer flak but attack from crack Luftwaffe pilots as well. If the reader would like to read a definitive book about WWII bomber crews, try "Wings Of Morning" or "The Mighty Eighth." "Wild Blue" feels like it was put together by researchers and rushed to publication with little or no editing. Maybe that was the case.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, yet predictable account of a B-24 crew
Review: Stepheen Ambrose's best works still remain those he did on World War II, and more specifically, the Army. In this effort, Ambrose focuses his attention on future politician George McGovern's involvement in World War II as a B-24 pilot, along with his crew and unit.The book details the crew's coming together, training, off-duty life once they reach the Italian base they'll fly from, and the missions they flew. Obviously, the overall story will appear somewhat similar to other books that discuss the air war against Germany, like Astor's The Mighty Eighth, or other such efforts. On the plus side, McGovern is a true gentleman warrior throughout, and his exploits deserve telling, as do nearly all of the stories about the grand crusade of World War II. The action is well written, and the book itself is enjoyable. The true downside is that after going through many of Ambrose's works, I guess I expected a bit more.
Rating: 
Summary: Greatest Generation
Review: The topic is rather narrow but still very interesting. It was not the aviation aspects that I found most captivating, which is treated so much better in numerous other books and novels, but the make up of men (no women yet) who ended up prosecuting this massive air campaign, the mind-numbing size and scale of the effort, the logistics, the training and the youth of these aerial fighters. This was highlighted to a higher degree in this book than many other similar works. Most impressive was the extensive training programs that were implemented in short order that were able to transform so many ordinary citizens into experts at flying these complex machines and delivering their deadly cargoes into the heart of the Nazi empire. This is in such keeping with the uniquely egalitarian American traditions. Contrast this with our current reliance on a warrior class to take on these responsibilities. The book follows the involvement in WWII of a very young McGovern and his crew, which makes it all the more interesting. Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable behind the yoke? That was the Greatest Generation!
Though the risks they took were tremendous, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been. Note that, through none of his required 35 missions, a single German or Italian fighter ever attacks McGovern's ship. Which is most surprising. By his entry into war in late 44, Luftwaffe was already cut down to size, and maybe that's why the 8th gets more of the glory, which was mauled heavily by the best of Germans fighters early on. Unlike American pilots, Germans did not have the luxury of a decent training away from combat zone, and typically flew until shot down. It was also noteworthy that the heavy bombing of German and Austrian targets continued unabated until two weeks before the surrender of the German Army!
The writing is quite unattractive, as if in one afternoon he just copied all his notes and called it a book. His sentences are short and stucco, as if using military efficiency himself. He also paints the characters into larger than life heroes. Though understandable, it is obviously unrealistic and takes away from the book. Still, there is no evidence of any one of the men described ever doubting the mission, or why they are so far from home fighting an enemy that does not seem to be an immediate threat to USA. This is most interesting and also impressive.
It must be noted that the skills in organizing such massive undertakings in USA, from production ramps to training and logistics, and the sheer number of people who experienced such responsibilities at such early age who then joined the private and government sectors must be one of the reasons for rapid dominance of American industry following the war. Whereas in Germany for example, factories running in underground complexes, with severe shortages of basics and manned mostly by slave labor, did not produce many transferable skills to peace time industrial activities.
It is a good read, not the best of its kind for sure, but worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Book About the B-24 Crews Over Germany
Review: I have read other books by Stephen Ambrose, including "Citizen Soldiers" and "D-Day", and this book ranks as one of his best. In World War II, the B-17 was known as a "glamor plane". It received all of the attention and it was the plane that everyone wanted to fly. But thanks to Ambrose's excellent narrative, I realized that the B-24 was just as important in the bombing campaign against Germany. The B-24 was faster, carried a bigger bombload, and had similiar armament to the B-17. I particularly enjoyed the stories of the crews who flew these big bombers. The book focuses on George McGovern's crew, and follows these boys from flight school all the way to the surrender of Germany. They were a very close crew, and the enlisted men especially looked up to McGovern. Ambrose writes about a particular instance in the book where a bomb got stuck in the rack and would not fall. Finally, the crew is able to jar the bomb loose, but to the crew's horror, it falls directly on a farmhouse at noontime. McGovern is haunted by this unfortunate accident throughout the war, but McGovern was actually able to meet the people that lived in the house after the war and found out that everyone was fine. Filled with action and excellent narration, The Wild Blue is definitely worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Boys to men
Review: This book has two central characters and is mostly a story about their shared experiences. The first subject is 2nd Lt. George McGovern, who in 1944 was just a typical US Army Air Force pilot; nothing here hints at the man, who, nearly 30 years later, would run for US president. The second is a machine, the B-24 Liberator, and one plane in particular - McGovern's "Dakota Queen", which he piloted on 35 bombing missions over Germany from his base in Cerignola, Italy, as part of the 741st Squadron, 455th Bomb Group. THE WILD BLUE then has a narrow focus and is less about the broad role of the bomber in the air war over Europe - that story about the more famous and glamorous B-17 and the 8th Air Force - has been told already in books like THE MIGHTY EIGHTH, a book which Ambrose himself read and rated highly. The Liberator comes by it's neglected treatment in history, and it's earned reputation as an ugly duckling quite fairly, as the following description of conditions in the plane attests. "Steering the four-engined airplane was difficult and exhausting, as there was no power except the pilot's muscles. It had no windshield wipers, so the pilot had to stick his head out the side window to see during a rain...there was no heat, despite temperatures that at 20,000 feet and higher got as low as 40 or 50 degrees below zero...the seats were not padded, could not be reclined, and were cramped into so small a space that a man had almost no chance to stretch and none whatsoever to relax. Absolutely nothing was done to make it comfortable for the pilot, co-pilot, or the other eight men in the crew..." Yet, as with all ugly ducklings, it had it's day and earned it's admirers. There were more B-24's built than any other US airplane and Ambrose says "it would be an exaggeration to say that the B-24 won the war for the Allies. But don't ask how they could have won the war without it." The greater emphasis of the book is on McGovern and his crew's experiences and it's in the telling of these stories where Ambrose's skills always shine; allowing the personal recollections of the participants to make the events come alive for us the readers. We follow the crew from induction through training to their arrival in Italy in 1944. There was danger from the outset. The book reveals that in basic and advanced flight training over 3,500 men lost their lives, 824 in 1943 alone; survival was an issue even before entering combat. McGovern and his crew experienced their fair share of adventures on missions. On one flight an engine quit, then another was hit by flak; on two engines he was losing altitude rapidly but McGovern managed to nurse the bomber down for an emergency landing on an airstrip less than half the length the B-24 normally required. For this feat McGovern earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. By highlighting McGovern's experiences are we to believe that the book is portraying him as exceptional? Not at all. The reality is that when he arrived in Italy in 1944, McGovern was a 21 year old pilot. His co-pilot and navigator were the same age and half his crew were teenagers. What Ambrose sees as extraordinary is that these stories of survival, skill, courage, fortitude, bravery, and duty, are all, each and every single one, the exploits of very young men - even boys. Indeed he says "in the twenty-first century, adults would hardly give such youngsters the key to the family car, but in the first half of the 1940's the adults sent them out to play a critical role in saving the world." They are now our aging parents and grandparents and all we can do is honor them and thank them for being men while they were still boys. We can only hope that written tributes such as THE WILD BLUE or the verse below are sufficient to show our appreciation to them. "They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
Rating:
Summary: Good enough, but not inspiring like his other works.
Review: This book was well written, as usual, by Steven Ambrose. However, I was left with the impression that the book was written as a favor to the main protagonist, George McGovern. Indeed, the Senator approached the author and asked him to tell his story; that is the genesis of Wild Blue. I liked this book, but it is not one that I will read multiple times (like I have done with "D-Day" and "Band of Brothers)." Wild Blue is worthwhile because it tells about bomber crews attacking what Churchill called "the soft underbelly of Europe." Most published Army Air Force history of WW II has concentrated on the bombing raids that originated in England, so this oral history of crews flying from the South is a welcome addition. However, I do agree with other reviewers who say this is clearly not Ambrose's best work. After reading Wild Blue I was not left with the sense of awe, gratitude and patriotism I felt from reading D-Day, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, and Undaunted Courage; they all outshine this one.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I've read several of Ambrose's other books and generally enjoyed them, but this one was a disappointment. His descriptions of the psychological stresses on the crews were a strong point. Unfortunately, the book is so full of errors in aviation related areas that anyone with an aviation background and some knowledge of WW2 airwar history will be immediately aware that Ambrose knew very little about airplanes or the airwar in Europe. It seems he tried to make up for this by overloading the book with general platitudes, many of which sounded like something we might see in a war era Hollywood movie. The errors were a major distraction for me and I would have a hard time recommending this book to anyone other then a novice with little or no history/aviation background.
Rating:
Summary: Accessible and interesting, but not Ambrose's best work.
Review: First off, I must say that I really did enjoy reading this book. I am not a World War II buff, and had previously known almost nothing about the AAF's role in the war except that they existed. Here Ambrose follows the 15th Army Air Force, based in Cerignola, Italy, through the years 1944 and 1945. The book is easy to read and requires little or no previous knowledge of the AAF or its planes to understand. Ambrose explains the history behind the 15th, the B-24 "Liberator" (and touches on the smaller B-17 "Flying Fortress") bombers, and the men who made up the flight crews. He also discusses the structure and mechanics of the B-24, and the tactics relating to strategic bombing. There is, however, room for improvement. The book is largely centered on George McGovern's experiences in the war, as a B-24 pilot, and I would have liked to read more about the other pilots, co-pilots, and flight crew members. Ambrose mentions a plethora of other men, but merely skims most of them. The reader does not really get to know most of the characters, as they did in Band of Brothers (Ambrose's work concerning the 101st Airborne division, which I consider to be a better book). I also wish Ambrose had gone into more detail overall. As some other reviewers have commented, the book does seem a bit rushed. Perhaps this stems from the fact that the concept for the book was not originally his - Ambrose picked up the project, on the recommendation of George McGovern, from another author who had already started it. Again to compare with Band of Brothers, I did not feel, when I finished this book, that I had as in-depth a knowledge about the AAF as I gained about the 101st Airborne. And while I have certainly gained respect for the B-24 bomber pilots and their crews, I did not come away with the overwhelming feeling of awe and admiration that I did for the paratroopers of E-Company in Band of Brothers. I was also disappointed to see a lack of good editting. There are numerous typos throughout the text that should have been caught and corrected before publication. This bogs down the text in some places, as the reader takes a few moments to realize that "so" is supposed to be "do" and so on. The book is certainly not worthless - as I said I did learn from and enjoy it - but does leave something to be desired. It would probably be best recommended to casual World War II readers, like myself, and not to true scholars and history buffs, who I'm sure could find more useful references elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but Disapointing
Review: In Wild Blue, Ambrose attempts to personalize the story of America's Airmen flying the dangerous bombing sorties in the B-24 Liberator. While "Wild Blue" makes for an entertaining read, the novel is not terribly informative, reading more like a magazine article than a history.
Ambrose's narration is pleasent enough and flows niceley, but the book is in dire need of a good editor. The chapter structure feels disjointed and does not give the impression of continuity. It is almost as though this was originally written as a series of magazine articles that were hastily cobbled together to go to print.
I was also shocked at the volume of "white space" in the book. The type face was huge, with lots of space between lines and far more pictures than were necessary. The end result is a short book rendered even shorter. Again, the image comes to mind of a series of magazine articles padded out to go to press.
My final complaint is in Ambrose's approach to his subjects. Being something of an amatuer historian myself, I deeply understand the challenges inherent in attempting to write an engaging account of historical events. Unfortunatley, Ambrose resorts to the cheapest of cheap shots, exaggeration. Being an Air Force vet myself, I have enourmous respect for the crews of the B-24's, but their jobs were difficult and dangerous enough to inspire sympathy and awe. Exagerating the deficiencies of the B-24 is not necessary, and, as one historian to another, irresponsible. Flying WWII bombers, without exception, was difficult and dangerous. What made it dangerous was a skilled, determined, technologicly advanced opponent, not faulty equipment.
Those gripes aside, Wild Blue is still an entertaining read. Just don't reference it in any academic work.
Rating:
Summary: Heros!
Review: This book chronicles the Army Air Force career of Lt George McGovern and his B-24 Liberator crew while assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy during WWII . Yes, the same Senator George McGovern whose failed presidential bid in 1972 saw Richard Nixon reelected. This book was truly an eye-opener for me. I wasn't a big fan of Senator McGovern (mainly due to his staunch opposition to the war in Viet Nam), and (unfortunately) fell prey to the accusations of his weak performance while flying in WWII. This book illustrated just how ignorant I was! Ambrose, with his anecdotal storytelling style, shares a tremendous history and in the process shows Senator McGovern to be a true leader--a man of integrity, dedication, compassion, courage, expertise and skill. The man was a true American hero...as were the men he flew with!
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