Jerome Klinkowitz

The University of Kentucky Press

ISBN 0-8131-1961-8

147 Pages

Approximately $14.00 US, 18.99 pounds (UK)

This is a different sort of book. It is not a "slam bang, there I was" sort of book, nor really a history of the European Air War. OK lets start with the Author. Professor Jerome Klinkowitz is a Professor, of English, and University Distinguished Scholar at the University of Northern Iowa. While the Author of over 30 books, his topics range in subject from WWII to Music, Philosophy, and Sports. In other words, the Professor brings a new outlook to a book about the Air war, and I personally found it to be enjoyable.

This is a book that looks at the way the stories, accounts and other tales of daring do are presented to us the reader. It is a very serious effort to show the reader that the way the story is told largely depends upon what part the teller played within the larger scope of the war. The Premise is interesting, and while it may seem obvious on the face of it all, once you get into the book, it becomes quite an adventure into linguistics, descriptions, and perhaps even a good glimpse into the psyche of the authors of several very good accounts of the war.

Covered as evidence of the premise, and this book does tend to read a bit like a final term paper, or a doctorate thesis, are Such luminary accounts such as "Tumult in the Clouds" by James Goodson, the King of Strafers, and wing man to Don Gentile, Joseph Heller's "Catch 22", Robert Johnson's "Thunderbolt", Harry Crosby's "The Bloody Hundredth", and John Comers' "Combat Crew".

This is a good book for looking at how a passage of these famous books was written, and perhaps why they were written the way they were. It is also a good analysis of the differences of how the fighter pilots saw the battle when compared and contrasted to the bomber crews.

I would recommend this book to anyone who want to go beyond the hows', and the figures, and statistics of the conflict. If you want to understand how ordinary men were able to draw upon themselves mission after mission while watching their good friends perish in untold horrible fashion, then this book is recommended to you.