Deadly Sky

The American Combat Airman in World War II

By: John C. McManus

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

This insightful chronicle takes listeners inside the experiences of America's fighter pilots and bomber crews, an incredible assortment of men who, in nearly four years of warfare all over the globe, suffered over 120,000 casualties, with over 40,000 killed.

Their stories span the Earth, into every corner of the combat theaters in both Europe and the Pacific. And the aircraft explored are as varied, tough, and legendary as the men who flew them - from the indomitable heavy-duty warhorse that was the B-17 Flying Fortress to the sleek, lethal P-51 Mustang fighter.

In Deadly Sky, master historian John C. McManus goes beyond the familiar tales of aerial heroism, capturing the sights and sounds, the toil and fear, the adrenaline and the pain of the American airmen who faced death with every mission. In this important, thoroughly-researched work, McManus uncovers the true nature of fighting - and dying - in the skies over World War II.

©2000 John C. McManus (P)2016 Recorded Books

good book one of my favorite

love this book. The book will go into the lives of airman in combat and tell you how they felt. and some crazy and sad story's I would tell everyone to listen to it

interesting

this book covers in detail topics not covered much in most stories about the air war that I've always been curious about such as answering nature's call 5 miles up!

The Air War as Experienced

I am deeply impressed with this book. The author has managed to provide a broad overview of what our soldiers/ airmen experienced in WWII. This story is about their lives and experiences rather than the battles and it is very moving. It made me laugh and cry and I am glad that I read it.

Twelve O'Clock High Unabridged

While the book purports to cover all American combat fliers of WWII, but about 80% is anecdotal coverage of the European heavy bomber campaign. HAP Arnold demanded the highest scorers on the military entrance exams for manning his airplanes. The USAAF was a major believer in standardized and psychological testing and screening. This process is covered in some detail in the book along with the selection process for the various billets in a bomber, and/or a fighter pilot.

If one has seen the movie "Twelve O'Clock High", it's a nutshell of the book's 17 hours. Arnold's missive of, "Why you are about to die...", to his airmen was a nice touch. There is quite a bit of questioning by the airmen of whether or not the killing of the some 353,000 German civilians and the 300,000 - 900,000 Japanese civilians was really moral or legal. Surprisingly, most really didn't and don't care, they left that up to the REMF's. But they were asking the questions.

If this was the basis for the founding of the USAF, then we have a problem because what happened during WWII can never be replicated. The heavy bomber aircrews had about a 20% chance of completing a tour of duty. Censors kept the actual numbers secret, but these were bright guys. The REMF's kept increasing the lengths of their tours for a reason.

Mr. Davis does yeoman service to the material.

A Fine Work

One of the most informative works on WWII air combat I've read. This covers it all.

Gripping!

My father in law was taken as a POW in Ploesti Romania and liberated in ‘45. This was a gripping book that helped me see some of what he saw. 9/10. Some repetition, but tolerable.

How did they do it?

I often wonder how so many young, brave men answered the call of their country and went to fight a war they had no part in starting. I hear and read how we shouldn't have been so aggressive and cruel in that war. But we did not start that war and yet so many young Americans, many still teenagers, went to foreign lands to fight for justice, to liberate people from their captors, from torture and death. This book explores the feelings of some of those young men. It shares their experiences, their thoughts and feelings both at the time and years later. It is a great book and I believe every one should read it. We owe so much to those who fought for the allied cause.

a story that makes you if you have what it takes.

I love this but very much really tells the story of the American fighter pilots in World War II. You go through their struggles, their high and lows. During this audio I found myself thinking if I really have what it takes to measure up to these Great Men whether I was smart enough whether I was brave enough and whether or not I had the courage and the will to see the missions that they went through through to the end of the war.

John McManus has done his work

Very fine history of the subject aimed at a general audience. McManus bases his observations of primary sources, largely the letters and diaries of US bomber and fighter pilots, crews, and ground crews.

The narration by Jonathan Davis is excellent.

It's was good,not great but good

I have read a lot of books of WW2. This was one of the first I was glad when it was over. I won't be listening to it again.