Wings of war
Subtitle: fighting WWII in the air
By: Jeffrey L. Ethell.
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Annapolis, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 136
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, American -- Pictorial works.
Description: Wings of War is the first book ever to present the complete story of World War II U.S. aviation in full color. Author Jeffrey Ethell has gathered a unique collection of 181 rare color photographs from former U.S. pilots and ground crews in Europe, North Africa, Italy, New Guinea, and the Pacific. Their experiences, captured on vintage Kodachrome, counterbalance the newsreel footage, photojournalism, and photographic archives that have contributed to World War II being pictured in black and white.

Presented here in full color are open-cockpit biplanes used in training, Catalinas, B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-29 Superfortresses (including the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima), C-47 Skytrains ("Dakotas"), A-36 Invaders, B-24s, B-26 Marauders, P-38 Lightnings, P-40s, P-47 Thunderbolts, P-51 Mustangs, F4U Corsairs, F6F Hellcats (the first U.S. planes to beat the Japanese Zeros), British Spitfires with American insignia, and many of the other planes that saw action.

These exceptional images are accompanied by first-person narratives involving the men and machines during the war. Each photograph has a personal story behind it, with anecdotes from the veterans. With such vivid color and lively recollection, Wings of War will bring readers as close to the 1939-45 air war as they will ever get - unless they were there.