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Title: The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid - America's First World War II Victory by Craig Nelson ISBN: 0-670-03087-2 Publisher: Viking Books Pub. Date: 26 September, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.68 (22 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Details, details, details...
Comment: Ever since I saw "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" on TV as a kid, the Doolittle Raid has been one of my favorite American military missions. The bravery exhibited by Col. Doolittle's Raiders and Bull Halsey's Task Force 16 is an example of American audacity, ingenuity and courage at its finest.
I've read several other accounts of the Doolittle raid, and Nelson does a fairly good job of presenting the preparation, attack and evasion phases of the operation. But he distracts the reader away from the focus of the book by going off on tangents, breezing through Pearl Harbor, Midway and the German U-boat offensive.
My main compliant with this work is that Nelson clearly doesn't know much about World War II, and even less about aviation. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem, but apparently he didn't bother to let anyone with some expertise read his manuscript. That's too bad. If he had, he would have learned that no one EVER refered to North American's B-25 as a "Billy" or a "B" (since the Raider's used B-25B models). He also would have learned that B-25's were constructed from aluminum, not steel and that taxing an aircraft is not how one transitions it to flight. He also would have learned that Guadalcanal is not a coral atoll and that the cave fighting he describes there did not occur until later in the Pacific War.
All in all, I give Mr. Nelson points for telling the Raiders' story. In many sections, the book is hard to put down. But I wish he'd done more thorough research, as his errors detract from the overall effort.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very readable account
Comment: The First Heroes is not only an excellent rendition of the Doolittle Raid but it does a nice job of setting the general historical stage of the period as well. WW2 aficionados may find this stage setting a bit general but Mr Nelson does a fine job with it and its inclusion will certainly help those not familiar with the period put the Raid in its proper context.
The book is very well written, entertaining, and is easily on par with Ambrose's best works.
One reviewer complained "He was known as "Bull" Halsey to anyone else with just a modicum of knowledge of the major WWII players." This was odd I thought because not only does Mr Nelson cover this fact but also explains HOW Adm Halsey got the nickname.
If you have never read anything on the Raid before this is a great place to start. If you have read other works Mr Nelson's is so well done you will certainly find it an enjoyable read.
Rating: 5
Summary: enjoyable and informative
Comment: In this book Craig Nelson tells the full tale of the men involved in the famous Doolittle Raid during WWII. With exhausting notes and quotations, and daunting research, every possible detail that is important to the story of the raid and the men is given. And despite the attention to detail, and despite the length, this book reads like a novel. Even people who are not history buffs will like this book. There's a fascinating short biography in the book of Jimmy Doolittle, one of our nation's greatest aviators. There is the story of the POW camps after the fact and the conversion of Jacob DeShazer, who would later be a leading evangelist in Japan. Much information is given to the planes themselves, the B-24s that carried the weapons of the raid. This book combines all those great elements into one very readable volume.
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Title: I Could Never Be So Lucky Again by James H. Doolittle ISBN: 0553584642 Publisher: Bantam Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (Brassey's Aviation Classics (Paperback)) by Ted W. Lawson ISBN: 1574885545 Publisher: Brassey's Inc Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Not As Briefed: From the Doolittle Raid to a German Stalag by C. Ross, Colonel Greening, Dorothy Greening, Karen Morgan Driscoll ISBN: 0874222397 Publisher: Washington State University Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $42.00 |
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Title: The Doolittle Raid by Carroll, V. Glines ISBN: 0887403476 Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Pub. Date: 01 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Last Mission: The Secret History of World War II's Final Battle by JIM SMITH, MALCOLM MCCONNELL ISBN: 0767907787 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 13 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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