Book Review- Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose

[dieg777]

Book Review Wild blue
Author Stephen E Ambrose
Pages 263
Picture 15


This is a book detailing the experiences of the American B-24 liberator crews in the latter part of the war. It focuses on one pilot, McGovern, and his crew, while including comments from other crews as additional materiel. The central character is probably better known to Americans than others as he was a presidential candidate in latter life.

The first section of the book, about 1/3rd, deals with the background of the aircrews, their training and familiarisation with the B-24. It covers all aspects and also highlights how much work the USAAF had to do to prepare for a war from its early days. The pilots received many more hours training than any other air force was able to provide at the time and in the relative safety away from a war zone; although many were killed in training accidents
There is a chapter on general background to the 15th Air force bomber operations during the war and then the second section details McGovern’s crew operations from November 44 to April 46 flying from Italy. There is a good chapter on the Tuskegee airmen in this latter section.

I found the book interesting but the author’s style is slightly jarring.
The first section is poorly composed, with a lot of characters and events wrapped together. Here he slips into a kind of “gee whiz weren’t they all such young poor mid west farmer boys, gee whiz America did this so much better” cliqued style of writing that removes objectivity and sometimes uses three or four examples to highlight a point when one would have done.
The second section is better where it concentrates on the action.
It is almost as if the author was trying to write 2 similar books at the one time threw them together and rushed out the book before it was finished.
So I guess, for me, overall the book scores highly for subject matter and detail and for the veteran’s stories but falls down on style and editorial standards.

[WWSensei]

Dr. Stephen E Ambrose was one of the world's leading experts on WW2 and WW2 battles. His books on Pearl Harbor and Midway are considered to be the definitive accounts of those battles. He was also a consultant on the series "Band Of Brothers" which was based on his book. He was a professor of history and held a PhD in history. He died in 2002.

He was the author of several other bestselling books about the war, including D-Day, Citizen Soldiers and The Victors, Undaunted Courage, About Lewis and Clark, and Nothing Like It in the World. He also wrote about the Transcontinental Railroad.

According to his bio he was the founder of the Eisenhower Center and President of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Just seems odd to see someone describe his style and editorial standards described as weak when he arguably was the most respected writer about WW2 to have ever lived.

[dieg777]

Thank you for your post WWSensei. Im sorry you didnt like the review. This is the only book from Dr Stephen Ambrose that I have read so I cannot comment on the others that you have mentioned.

I enjoyed the " Band of Brothers" series so much I bought the DVD box set . I was looking forward to reading the book but found this one on the shelves next to it and picked it up first as it was about aviation.

I will get the " Band of Brothers" book later in the year as it has been recommended by many sources.