Pacifica Military History Free Sample Chapters.pmd

Free Sample Chapters 433
What the Experts Are Saying About The Road to Big Week
Eric Hammel convincingly demonstrates that the road to “Big Week” in
February 1944 occupied more than twenty years. With a passion for
objectivity and an eye for telling detail, he describes the U.S. Army Air
Forces’ evolution of the self-defending bomber as well as Nazi
Germany’s efforts to preserve and patch “the roof” over the Third Reich.
Though the European war lasted another fifteen months, Hammel shows
that by the end of Big Week there was no reversing the traffic on that
sanguinary path. ——Barrett Tillman, author of Clash of the Carriers
Eric Hammel has done it again, with a lucid portrayal of the growth of
American bomber theory from the 1918 Armistice to the crucial days
over Germany when the Eighth Air Force broke the Luftwaffe’s back.
Some books have told what happened during Big Week—Hammel tells
you why, driving home points that are as vital today as they were in
1944. ——Col. Walter J. Boyne, National Aviation Hall of Fame Honoree
In The Road to Big Week, Eric Hammel cleverly connects a widely
disparate collection of dots that are the development of America as the
world’s preeminent air power. These connections describe how the U.S.
Army Air Forces—just barely in time—evolved in size and capability
such that America’s airmen prevailed in the iconic air battle that
ultimately ensured the defeat of Nazi Germany. Hammel’s meticulous
research and eminently readable style make this definitive work a
compelling read. ——Lt.Col. Jay A. Stout, author of Fortress Ploesti
Eric Hammel has a special gift for combining musty war records and
intimate personal accounts into a gripping history . . . If you think there’s
nothing new to learn about World War II, if you think there was never a
possibility the Allies might lose, if you think one side was smarter than
the other, The Road to Big Week will unnerve you and change forever
your perception of what happened in those high, embattled skies.
——Robert F. Dorr, co-author of Hell Hawks!