Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-Twenty Fours over Germany

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title
Review: This book Is primarily about Gearge McGovern and his Crew of the B-24. This book is unlike "Citizen Soldier" and "Band of Brothers". I kinda expected the same style of good writing that Ambrose is famous for as in the titles I listed in this review. However this is not the case. Had Ambrose titled the book "Mc Govern the Pilot Who Became Politician" then I am sure he would not have had such a quick response to buy this book from me. However to be fair, It was a very good book About Mc Govern's service to the war effort, It did mention some interesting exploits about him bringing back his damaged bomber many times and saving his crew. The book also included some very heart gripping facts about how it must have felt for the crews of the B-24. Mr. Ambrose is "tops" with his previous books! In one way I am glad to have read the book It brought great respect for Mr. McGovern! He is more than just the guy who went against Nixon for president when I was a kid. Without reading this book I would have never had any thought about McGovern. Who knows, this might win him enough respect to challenge the new President we Americans just elected in the next vote. If Mc Govern can bring a damaged B-24 back as often as he did he could possibly carry our country through all the battle damage it is going through now :)!
This Book is not about the B-24 there are web sites that mention more. Mr. Ambrose the author should stick on the the war on the ground ather tha'n the war in the sky:)! No offense Mr. Ambrose!You are a great author, but even the greatest authors miss it sometimes.
I do not wish to insult George Mc Govern either, I think this book did a superb job of describing a well tempered leader and learner, A humble and bold man who I would have never had the interest to learn about had I not have been mislead by the Awesome misleading title of this book. My thanks to the crews of the B-24's and the unsung heros of the 15th Air Force who sacrificed everything to help liberate Europe from the dictator it had. This book did open my eyes more ot their service.

Rating:
Summary: History murdered in cold blood. Again.
Review: I am astounded that yet another book by Stephen Ambrose is trumpted about by the booksellers of America, when the Wall Street Journal and the Sacramento Bee both have exposed his "history" for what it is: The cold blooded murder of the history of the United States. Between slaughtering railroad history in the awful fashion he used in "Nothing Like it in the World", to the defamation of our soldiers in WWII, Mr. Ambrose leaves precious little print space for the other truly awful books that find their way to the shelves of our libraries and booksellers...

Rating:
Summary: The Emperor might not be wearing any clothes
Review: You can't fault the greatest generation for what they did. But, I think Ambrose is getting too much exposure, rushing books to print in order to capitalize on the Tom Hanks/Stephen Spielberg WWII juggernaut. This book should have been confined to a chapter in a more carfully constructed book focusing on the individual experiences of our forces in World War II. Instead, Ambrose has stretched it out. Notice how wide the spacing is, and note the tedious details about so-and-so who used to like to play catch after school and date Millie. These bits of "color" for nearly every person even mentioned in the narrative are lame attempts to add tenderness and depth. Instead, when a man's first 19 years are summed up in an 8 word sentence, you get just the opposite: slap-dash hackery that belittles the contribution of so many people.
To make it all the worse is the story Ambrose shares in the Preface about how McGovern, the main figure in the book, asked him to write the story instead of some other author, who had actually begun the task. Ambrose's ego is so large that he called the original author and asked him to relenquish the job. And who could say no to Ambrose? He's clearly one of the best historians in America. Nonetheless, I can't help but wonder how much richer this story -- these stories -- would have been in the hands of a hungry writer who wanted to achieve something great, rather than an additional 8 inches of shelf space at Border's to coincide with the premier of Band of Brothers.
Please, Professor Ambrose, return to your earlier level of quality.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Given Ambrose's previous work, I was extremely disappointed with this book. I thought that the writing style was brief and choppy. I believe that a much more detailed and profound story could have been told instead. I would recommend reading Band of Brothers or Pegasus Bridge instead.

Rating:
Summary: Nice personal accounts but perpetuates stereotypes
Review: Mr. Ambrose's most recent book about the airmen who flew the Liberators from Italy gives a nice personal picture of the pilots and crew, especially of the role Senator McGovern played. The book has, however, from my point of view as a recipient of the bombs which were showered on Vienna, a fatal flaw. The book perpetuates the stereotype that the 15th USAAF did not engage in area bombing but went only after strategic targets such as railroad marshalling yards, oil refineries and similar military objectives. A specific point is made that the pilots were instructed not to hit cultural landmarks, as for instance St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna. This may have been the instructions but the inner city of Vienna which consisted mainly of cultural landmarks including the Opera house, St. Stephen's square, the Burgtheater, Parliament House, Imperial palace to name just a few were clearly hit. The raid on March 12 ( which is not mentioned in the book, only a March 14 attack on Wiener Neustadt is reported)was especially devastating for the inner city. About one third of the homes and buildings were destroyed throughout the city including churches, schools, hospitals etc. during 1944 and especially 1945. The little city of Wiener Neustadt was so devastated that at the end of the war only 17 houses were undamaged in a city of about 30.000 residents. The reasons for the carnage are explained in my book War and Mayhem. While the British openly admit to "carpet bombing" American authors still feel obliged to deny having used this tactic. Finally the second to last paragraph in the Epilogue is fiction. It is true that a great many Austrians, myself included, had no use for Hitler and wanted him to lose the war and thereby his life as soon as possible but the conversation as reported in that paragraph never took place. The real conversation - which I checked out with Senator McGovern - is also reported in War and Mayhem. Finally Mr. Ambrose is mistaken in the assumption that the destruction of the oil refiners were the straw that broke the camel's back. It was much rather the loss of the Rumanian oil fields in the fall of 1944. The only oil wells available from that time on were in Austrian Zisterdorf and the supply was clearly totally inadequate to sustain the needs of the troops. Why did the Wehrmacht not surrender when the war was lost? We tried to keep the Communists out of central Europe so that the Allies would have a chance to occupy us rather than the Russians!

Rating:
Summary: There are better books about WWII
Review: I've read most of Ambrose's works and they seem to be a bit repetitious and going downhill lately or maybe I've become jaded. It seems to me, though, that there are much better World War II books out there. One of them is Hickam's Torpedo Junction, a rousing tribute to the men of the Coast Guard who fought a bloody, desperate battle with the U-boats off our east coast. Another is anything by Ernie Pyle (to go back to the source).

Rating:
Summary: Careless and thrown together
Review: This book was thrown together and it shows. It is amazing that the air war over Germany can be recounted with so little passion, tension or insight. This is a poor excuse for a book and an insult to the men won fought in the skies over Germany. One example: because George McGovern's plane never had to fight attacking fighters, there is nothing in the book about it. This despite the fact that he contends the book is not just about McGovern and his crew but the whole B-24 effort over Germany. Don't waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Not up to what I have come to expect from Ambrose. Similar to his last book on the transcontinental railroad. Hard to follow, not much depth. Seemed to be in a hurry to compete. Very short for such a dramatic subject. Best part was the prologue describing the B 24. This is not a book I would recommend. I had the good fortune 12 months ago to see the lone B 24 first hand in a flying display. It was an emotional sight. I also had the good fortune in the early 60s to work with a man who flew the B24 out of England.

Rating:
Summary: Down in Flames
Review: Mr. Ambrose really misses on this effort. His handling of the topic is very superficial and must have written by his assistants. For those wanting to read the real stuff on the B-24, get a copy of "Log of the Liberators" by Steve Birdsall. Unfortunately, the author's name will sell zillions of this poor book and keep young people from reading more comprehensive books on the WW2 air war.

Rating:
Summary: Pop WW 2 for people who do not study WW2
Review: Superficial account of WW2 in the air. Not up to Ambrose's usual standards.Try Steve Birdsall's "Log of the Liberators" (1973) if you want to read the real stuff. I guess Steve Ambrose should stay on the ground.