Henry Carter Hull

First flown in 1940, the prototype Vought F4U Corsair instantly became the fastest fighter in the world and the fastest US aircraft of any description. Powered by a huge 18-cylinder Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp engine driving an enormous 13 feet 4 inch propeller, the first Corsairs were capable of 417mph. This figure would rise to nearly 450mph in later versions despite the fact that fuel load and overall weight was increased. Production began in...

A former 606 Special Operations Squadron member recounts his 1970 secret combat mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, during which he struggled for survival by utilizing daredevil piloting tactics to outmaneuver thousands of anti-aircraft shells.

Examines the role of the U.S. Air Force in the Gulf War, focusing on the contributions of General Chuck Horner who served as commander of the U.S. and allied air campaign; provides insight into the rebuilding of the Air Force since Vietnam; and discusses how war has changed in the last decade of the twentieth century.

"A WWII history told from US and Japanese perspectives -- "an impressively researched chronicle of the months leading up to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima" ( Publishers Weekly ). During the closing months of World War II, two military giants locked in a death embrace of cultural differences and diplomatic intransigence. While developing history's deadliest weapon and weighing an invasion that would have dwarfed D-Day, the US called for the "unconditional...

Examines the last months of the Pacific war as it appeared to American and Japanese decision makers at the time, and presents evidence that indicates Japan was not at all ready to surrender in August 1945 at the time the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Operation Grasshopper first published in 1958, is the little-known yet vital story of U.S. Army Aviation operations during the Korean conflict. In contrast to the Air Force, Army "Grasshopper" pilots flew light, unarmed planes (especially the Cessna L-19 'Bird Dog') and helicopters, to report on enemy troop movements and artillery positions, to perform rescue missions of fellow soldiers, and to fly countless missions transporting the wounded to medical...

The author's memoir of his tour of duty in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot beginning in 1965.

The Times Literary Supplement.