Hit the Target

July 1, 2015

Shortly after the beginning of World War II, the U.S. Army formed a field team, Eighth United States Army, the first air force expected to operate overseas. A few months later, the Eighth embarked on a strategic mission to bomb Germany by daylight. By 1945, the Eighth, in concert with the Royal Air Force's night bombing campaign, had crushed much of Germany's productive capacity and, consequently, turned dozens of cities into rubble heaps. Yenne (The Imperial Japanese Army) demonstrates how eight men drove the development and eventual triumph of the Eighth. Some are well known: Carl Andrew Spaatz, Ira C. Eaker, Jimmy Doolittle, and Curtis LeMay. Others are less famous but played crucial roles. Interweaving the eight stories into the complex history of the bombardment force is at times confusing, as there was a great deal of job changing and movement, as well as appearances by other figures such as Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, General Hap Arnold, and Hollywood director William Wyler. VERDICT Likely to be popular with World War II and aviation readers. The author overcomes the narrative problems with perceptive vignettes of personalities and relationships among the lead subjects.--Edwin Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.