Ronald A. (rarendt) reviewed on + 107 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If you're looking for a very short and superficial overview of The Flying tigers. this is the book for you; it has 168 pages of text, plus a very brief bibliography and index. That text includes numerous photographs, and each chapter is headed by a page which contains nothing but the title and a photo.
John Toland is a well-respected Pulitzer Prize winning popular historian. His biography of Hitler was ground breaking, and his "The Rising Sun", an extensive overview of Japan from 1936 to 1945 is outstanding. I have two of his books about Pearl Harbor which I haven't read yet, but am looking forward to. Toland has a Japanese wife, which I'm sure contributes to his insights about Japan.
Given all that, this book was a real disappointment; it looks like he slapped it together in a few weeks to satisfy some contractural obligation - it is also not very well researched or proof read. Page 145 talks about Robert Scott "tangling with four twin-engine planes, Messerschmitt 109's". The ME109 was a German fighter plane with one engine. The excellent "The Flying Tiger", an world-class biography of Claire Chennault by Jack Samson, who served with him, has no mention of the ME109 at all. If you're really interested in the Flying Tigers, that's the book you need to read.
John Toland is a well-respected Pulitzer Prize winning popular historian. His biography of Hitler was ground breaking, and his "The Rising Sun", an extensive overview of Japan from 1936 to 1945 is outstanding. I have two of his books about Pearl Harbor which I haven't read yet, but am looking forward to. Toland has a Japanese wife, which I'm sure contributes to his insights about Japan.
Given all that, this book was a real disappointment; it looks like he slapped it together in a few weeks to satisfy some contractural obligation - it is also not very well researched or proof read. Page 145 talks about Robert Scott "tangling with four twin-engine planes, Messerschmitt 109's". The ME109 was a German fighter plane with one engine. The excellent "The Flying Tiger", an world-class biography of Claire Chennault by Jack Samson, who served with him, has no mention of the ME109 at all. If you're really interested in the Flying Tigers, that's the book you need to read.
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