'War history as it should be written!' -- The Hook

Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and
His American Volunteers, 1941-1942

"During the dark, early days of World War II, when the Imperial Japanese army, navy, and air force were running roughshod over Asia and the Pacific, it seemed that nothing could stop them. Only a small band of American mercenary fliers based in Burma and known as the Flying Tigers, led by a leather-faced fighter named Claire Chennault, seemed able to challenge and defeat the Japanese....

"The exciting story of this legendary fighting force that wore American uniforms but Chinese insignia is told in Daniel Ford's definitive history of the legendary Flying Tigers. Every page contains a new tidbit of information and rich, long-forgotten detail." -- World War II magazine, November 2007

We all know the downside of the internet: it sucks up time that would better be devoted to more productive work. But ah, the upside! We meet people who otherwise would always be below the horizon. Most often this takes the form of information, like this from Robert Klemann about the disastrous raid on Lashio in June 1942, when four of six B-25 bombers were lost:

"I was the pilot of one of the two surviving B-25s. The supposition that three of the planes had run out of gas is reasonable, but not accurate. The fact is that two of them ... struck a mountain top while flying on instruments, and there was no possibility of any survivors. The third one did run out of fuel and the crew bailed out. We missed hitting that mountain by 15 or 20 feet. The trees and bushes were just beyond our wingtip."

And sometimes it's a grace note, like this email out of the blue:

'I bought your book when it first came out and was simply taken aback at the depth and and historic judgment that you brought to this subject. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a second copy just to keep in a pristine condition as the first was read and reread so many times that it was an exemplar of the wear and tear that favorite books get from years of enjoyment.... In any event, I simply wanted to offer my hand as it were, and tell you how very much I enjoyed the book. I thought you were scrupulously fair to all concerned and that the human story, as opposed to the John Wayne Hollywood heroes was of much more interest than fairy tales.'

That was certainly my intention. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford