American Fighters Over Europe. 112 pages, 300 illustrations and 140 photographs. This attractive book provides a large number of photos and drawings of U.S. fighter planes of the WW II ETO with details of their colors and markings. The book is directed toward modelers, but is valuable for anyone interested in how these planes looked in their original time and place. Kalmbach Publishing Co. has a number of other books for military modelers which may also be of interest.

Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II by Rob Morris. 304 pages (April 14, 2006) Potomac Books Inc. This book covers the history of the bomber war in Europe during WW II, as seen by the men involved. Based on interviews with surviving crews, the author extracts a lot of interesting details about the men who bravely rode the planes of the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Force, how they lived, fought, and too-often died in the air and on the ground after capture.

Reddo's Raiders: Memoirs of a B17 Bomber Aircraft Commander by author. 264 pages (January 6, 2004) 1st Books Library. The reminiscences of a B-17 Flying Fortress captain and his crew during WW II.

B-24 Bomber Crew: A True Story of the Pacific War With Japan by J. A. Nichols. 78 pages (November 1997) Vantage Press. A short first person account of a B-24 pilot in the Pacific Theater, from training to operational missions. Photo section.

By Any Means Necessary : America's Secret Air War in the Cold War by William E. Burrows. 416 pages (October 2001) Farrar Straus & Giroux. This book tells the story of aerial reconnaissance, the "black missions" practiced by the US during the Cold War along the periphery and over the territory of the Communist bloc. Starting in the closing days of World War II the dangerous and super-secret missions were required to keep the US nuclear deterrant credible and to provide early warning of the intentions and capabilities of the adversaries. Using the best manpower, flying everything from obsolete aircraft to amazing special planes like the U-2 or SR-71, these largely unsung warriors did their clandestine work in obscurity. They were military men flying missions planned by SAC, the CIA or NSA. For them the Cold War was hot -- many were shot at, some shot down and killed or captured. The captured crews were occasionally returned but many disappeared and the US Government was constrained by the secrecy of the missions from actively pursuing their release.

There is drama on several levels. There is the technology war of measures and counter-measures, pushing aircraft and crews to ever higher performance to meet mission objectives. Starting with refitted WW II prop-driven bombers and fighters, and off-the-shelf radio electronics, the author follows the evolution of technology to todays NRO satellites, stealth aircraft, and fantastic digital ECM gear. But there is also a human dimension of flyers risking and losing their lives while the US is ostensibly at peace, and their families who cannot find out what happened to them, cannot get the recognition and honor they deserve.

The book is an exceptional guide to the conduct of strategic reconnaissance by both sides during the last 55+ years, right up to the US-China clash over the Navy EP-3E in April 2001.