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Location: Home» All Books » Japanese » Flyboys: A True Story of Courage

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage

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Author: James Bradley
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$14.95~~
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $14.94 (100%)

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

75 reviews
Sales Rank: 48762

Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.3

ISBN: 0316159433
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.540509528
EAN: 9780316159432
ASIN: 0316159433

Publication Date: September 14, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ex-Library. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - Flyboys

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
This acclaimed bestseller brilliantly illuminates a hidden piece of World War II history as it tells the harrowing truestory of nine American airmen shot down in the Pacific. One of them, George H. W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. The fate of the others-an explosive 60-year-old secret-is revealed for the first time in FLYBOYS.

Customer Reviews: Read 70 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

An intense and necessary look into the horrors of war July 29, 2008
John Cathcart (Florida, USA)
I first heard of James Bradley's "Flyboys: A True Story of Courage" from someone who was in the process of reading it. As the person doing the recommending had not yet reached halfway point of the book, he emphasized the role of former President George Bush's flying in the Pacific and of his being shot down. This was a story about which I knew at least a little. Still, the reader was quite enthralled and strongly recommended that I read it.

I ordered my own copy thinking that the book dealt primarily with Bush's flying record. Once I started reading, however, that impression quickly proved to be an inaccurate. Flyboys delivers a disturbing but definitely worthwhile look into the horrors of war in the Pacific theater during the Second World War. Despite the fact that the book deals primarily with the barbaric treatment of several US airmen shot down and captured by the Japanese, it is certainly not an exercise in Japan-bashing. Bradley brings balance to the discussion of Japanese atrocities by mentioning similar--although, clearly, much less systematic--misbehavior on the part of US and allied soldiers.

You will be riveted by Bradley's telling of this story. You will also be moved. By the end of this book, exhausted, you'll learn a redeeming and terribly moving secret involving one of the Japanese captors.

John Cathcart
Author Delta 7

4 out of 5 stars

Interesting Slice of History July 25, 2008
Pistol Pete (Houston, TX United States)
I listened to this unabridged book on audio. It was a long listen. The story loosely centers around a number of servicemen who were shot down over Chichi Jima (north of Iwo Jima) and their stories. One of those shot down was President George H. W. Bush (he obviously survived). However, these stories only take up about 30% of the book. The rest of the book focuses on the Pacific theater in World War II and the role of air power in defeating the Japanese. The history of Japanese-US relations and of military air power are also explored.

I found the book to be very interesting, even considering I listened to it for about 14 hours straight. The history and background are illuminating when considering the story of the flyboys and the larger war in the Pacific. I came away from the book with an increased appreciation and understanding on the need to use the atom bomb, the very different psychology of the Japanese, and of the incredible destruction Japan endured. It was a very good history lesson.

There are shortcomings. The book does spend a long time on tangents which can be distracting. It also gets a little grisly at parts. However, I believe most students of history will appreciate this book.

1 out of 5 stars

don't waste your money June 5, 2008
Jane Hazelgrove Scott (GA, USA)
4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Can't criticize this book strongly enough. It's viciously anti-American and very often at odds with the facts. It tries to draw moral equivalency between the US and Imperial Japan despite the enormous and obvious differences between the two. For example, the book tris to equate the American fire bombing of Japan with the horrific atrocities wantonly committed throughout Asia (particularly in China, Korea, and the PIs) by the Imperial Japanese Army and completely overlooks the obvious difference that the allied civilians who had been so brutally abused had SURRENDERED, while the Japanese civilians killed in the US air raids had not. Another striking difference was the Flyboys -at great risks to their own lives - dropped leaflets before the attacks warning the Japanese civilians to evacuate their cities or face the consequences, while the Imperial Japanese Army did just the opposite and lied to Chinese, Korean and PI civilians in order to concentrate them in a place where their exterminations could be more readily facilitated.
The book also claims that the US bombed defenseless civilians - a flat denial of fact. In fact, the those civilians had radar to tell them of the incoming raids, a formidable array of anti-aircraft batteries, and as well as fighter protection.
As for the claim that it was immoral to bomb Japanese cities independent of the issue of civilian casualities, and that Americans were therefore a being highly hyprocritical, it must be pointed out not only were they valid military targets, but also that their destruction would serve as a warning to future aggressors that such atrocities against US allies would breed retaliation and would not be cost free.
Eqally outrageous is the large number of glaring historical errors the book contains. At one point the book quotes a source who remembered the smell of jet fuel on a US aircraft carrier in WWII?!!!!! FYI: The US had no operational jets in WWII. Similarly, the book quotes a supposed eyewitness to the DoLittle Raid, a British diplomat who was supposedly stationed in Tokyo at the time, despite the fact that Britian would have been at war with Japan for several months by that time.
A far better title for this book would have been FLIGHTS OF FANCY.

4 out of 5 stars

Not Just Another War Story May 22, 2008
Mid-Praire Teen
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Definitely a good story of bravery, Flyboys by James Bradley, is a true story with interviews and facts about World War 2 that could change what people used to think about the war in the Pacific.
It is a story about some Navy pilots that were sent in to attack a Japanese radio station on the island of Chichi Jima. It tells of how they were captured and treated on the island, but it is also more than stories of World War 2. It tells the history of the Japanese Empire and how they came to be the warring country that they were.
This book delves deep into the most sinister parts of the Second World War. On one side, it describes how the Japanese treated the Chinese citizens and the American soldiers in some of the most horrific ways such as: killing, mutilating, and even eating their prisoners. Then again, this book describes how the American bombers firebombed the Japanese cities packed full of civilians.
If I had to change something about this book, I would have written less about the trials at the end. The trials seemed to be too repetitive. The author discussed the same facts about the trial repeatedly. This seemed to drag out the trial and this part of the book lacked in interesting facts. Even though this book was choking with unnecessary facts, it was still interesting to read because of the more important details.
I sincerely loved the amount of information in this book. Even the gruesome parts of the book add to the big picture of warfare; not just the bombs and bullets, but the emotional part of it as well. It also has some interesting comparisons such as: the chart that shows some of the Japanese cities that were bombed, which American city they were closest to in population, and how much of the city was destroyed. The whole book really makes you think what might have happened if the situation had been swapped between the Americans and Japanese.

5 out of 5 stars

A note of thanks to the author February 25, 2008
Michael D. Healy (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Absolutely marvelous jobl! Every high school student should be required to read this book. I am about to order seven of the books to give to friends and family members. My father died after being shot down while a gunner on a B-24 bomber in March of 1944. As I read the book, I realized - even though he must have experienced some terrible minutes going to his death - how fortunate he was to not have been captured. I also spent some two plus years in Japan as a member of the occupation forces and found the Japanese people to be, like most Americans, sensitive,kind and ashamed of any military personnel and the political leaders who tolerated atrocities of any kind.

Michael Dunne Healy

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