Flyboys

The classic New York Times bestselling story of heroism and sacrifice--by the author of Flags of Our Fathers, The Imperial Cruise, and The China Mirage. This acclaimed bestseller brilliantly illuminates a hidden piece of World War II history as it tells the harrowing true story of nine American airmen shot down in the Pacific. One of them, George H. W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. What happened to the other eight remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth, and not even the families of the airmen were informed of what happened to their sons. Their fate remained a mystery--until now. FLYBOYS is a tale of courage and daring, of war and death, of men and hope. It will make you proud and it will break your heart.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I had developed a professional relationship with Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking, after the publication of my first book, Flags of Our Fathers. In early February 2001, she suggested I contact a man named Bill Doran in Iowa. He had some interesting information. #2 The transcript contained the full proceedings of a trial establishing the fates of eight American airmen who were downed in the vicinity of Iwo Jima during World War II. The airmen were charged with destroying Chichi Jima’s communications stations, and they were the first to engage in combat aviation in large numbers. #3 The American Flyboys, who fought in the Pacific in 1945, were part of an air war that dwarfed the land war below. The endgame in the northern Pacific was the incineration of Japan, and this required two layers of bombers in the sky. #4 The eight Flyboys’ brothers and sisters, girlfriends, and aviator buddies gave me photos, letters, and medals. I tracked down the families and friends of the Flyboys who could only tell me so much.

Tommy Riley and his friends are growing up among the men and machines of a key Air Force Base in the middle of the Cold War. One day, the boys sneak into a top-secret reconnaissance bomber, switch on the radio, and overhear a commie plan that is so diabolical . . .

Since launching his career at the Village Voice in the early 1980s Greg Tate has been one of the premiere critical voices on contemporary Black music, art, literature, film, and politics. Flyboy 2 provides a panoramic view of the past thirty years of Tate's influential work. Whether interviewing Miles Davis or Ice Cube, reviewing an Azealia Banks mixtape or Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog, discussing visual artist Kara Walker or writer Clarence Major, or analyzing the ties between Afro-futurism, Black feminism, and social movements, Tate's resounding critical insights illustrate how race, gender, and class become manifest in American popular culture. Above all, Tate demonstrates through his signature mix of vernacular poetics and cultural theory and criticism why visionary Black artists, intellectuals, aesthetics, philosophies, and politics matter to twenty-first-century America.

Robbie's father is a spitfire pilot who was shot down during World War II and is now a POW. At only seventeen, Robbie lies about his identity to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force under the guise of going to a boarding school so that his mother doesn't find out. He starts training in Brandon, Manitoba, but after acing all his classes, he's dealt a disappointing blow when he's assigned to be a navigator on a Lancaster. He wanted to be a pilot, just like his father, but the commanders of the air force have other ideas. Robbie is soon on his way to England, where he completes his training on missions bombing German targets in enemy territory. It is during one of these missions that his Lancaster is fired upon and the pilot and many of the crew are shot. It's up to Robbie and his limited piloting experience to save the crew...and himself.

The exhilarating epic story of the heroic fighter pilots whose fast - flying, hard - turning planes turned the tide in the Pacific theater during World War II....

"Bradley is sharp and rueful, and a voice for a more seasoned, constructive vision of our international relations with East Asia." --Christian Science Monitor James Bradley introduces us to the prominent Americans--including FDR's grandfather, Warren Delano--who in the 1800s made their fortunes in the China opium trade. Meanwhile, American missionaries sought a myth: noble Chinese peasants eager to Westernize. The media propagated this mirage, and FDR believed that supporting Chiang Kai-shek would make China America's best friend in Asia. But Chiang was on his way out and when Mao Zedong instead came to power, Americans were shocked, wondering how we had "lost China." From the 1850s to the origins of the Vietnam War, Bradley reveals how American misconceptions about China have distorted our policies and led to the avoidable deaths of millions. The China Mirage dynamically explores the troubled history that still defines U.S.-Chinese relations today.