Written by Martin W Bowman Patrick Stephens, Ltd., Denington Estate, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2QD, England Hardcover and papercover, 209 pp., 176 black and white photos Index (no bibliography) Price: $24.95 (hardcover) ISBN 0-85059-675-0 (hardcover) ISBN 0-85059-786-0 (papercover) Audiences: historians of American and WWII aviation, veterans Practically every aspect of the air war in Europe during the Second World War has been inspected in many books since V-E Day. Lacking, however, has been an extensive treatment of how the airmen themselves viewed their combat missions. Mr. Bowman has sought to explain this experience among the crews of the famous B-17 Flying Fortresses deployed by the 8th Air Force (just as he earlier examined the activities of the men who flew the B-24 Liberators out of England in Fields of Little America). Against the background of the doctrine of strategic bombing, the personal feelings of those who piloted the Flying Fortress, dropped its bombs, and manned its guns are presented. Veteran outfits, like the 92nd Bomb Group, are contrasted with the new and untested formations. The discipline of training, the anxiety of pre-flight preparations, and the high drama of actual missions come to life in the words of the individuals who actually fought the war in the air. Particularly gripping are the accounts of the damaged and downed aircraft and what these circumstances meant to their crews. The transition of the 8th Air Force into a potent fighting force was not without a cost. The B-17s of the First and Third Air Divisions had to battle long distances, fickle weather, a dauntless enemy, and poor decisions by the high command. Mounting losses among the bomber crews meant that, by the end of January 1943, casualties were more than twice that of replacements. Until a sufficient number of aircraft and a reliable long distance fighter escort, were available, the men of the 8th Air Force continued to fly the hazardous missions in their "Castles in the Air." More Book Reviews Castles in the Air: The Story of the B-17 Flying Fortress Crews of the U.S. 8th Air Force Panzer Colors III: Markings of the German Panzer Forces, 1939-45 Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #11 To Game News List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 by Dana Lombardy. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com