Book Description
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. The fate of the others-an explosive 60-year-old secret-is revealed for the first time in FLYBOYS.

FROM OUR EDITORS

In 1945, eight young American pilots were shot down over Chichi Jima. Seven of these officers were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. The eighth, George H. W. Bush, was rescued by an American submarine -- decades later, he became president of the United States. In Flyboys, James Bradley reveals the never-before-told story of the seven brave airmen who subsequently disappeared from history. This is not only an arresting story of humans under astonishing adversity; it is the riveting account of a U.S. government cover-up that persisted for two generations.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Flyboys is the true story of young American airmen who were shot down over Chichi Jima. Eight of these young men were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. Another was rescued by an American submarine and went on to become president. The reality of what happened to the eight prisoners has remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth. Not even the families of the airmen were informed what had happened to their sons. It has remained a mystery￯﾿ﾽuntil now. Critics called James Bradley's last book "the best book on battle ever written." Flyboys is even better: more ambitious, more powerful, and more moving. On the island of Chichi Jima those young men would face the ultimate test. Their story￯﾿ﾽa tale of courage and daring, of war and of death, of men and of hope￯﾿ﾽwill make you proud, and it will break your heart.

About the Author: James Bradley is the author of Flags of Our Fathers and the son of one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. He lives in Westchester County, New York

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The author of Flags of Our Fathers achieves considerable but not equal success in this new Pacific War-themed history. Again he approaches the conflict focused on a small group of men: nine American Navy and Marine aviators who were shot down off the Japanese-held island of Chichi Jima in February 1945. All of them were eventually executed by the Japanese; several of the guilty parties were tried and condemned as war criminals. When the book keeps its eye on the aviators-growing up under a variety of conditions before the war, entering service, serving as the U. S. Navy's spearhead aboard the fast carriers, or facing captivity and death-it is as compelling as its predecessor. However, a chapter on prewar aviation is an uncritical panegyric to WWI aerial bombing advocate Billy Mitchell, who was eventually court-martialed for criticizing armed forces brass. More problematic is that Bradley tries to encompass not only the whole history of the Pacific War, but the whole history of the cultures of the two opposing countries that led to the racial attitudes which both sides brought to the war. Those attitudes, Bradley argues, played a large role in the brutal training of the Japanese army, which led to atrocities that in turn sharpened already keen American hostility. Some readers' hackles will rise at the discussion of the guilt of both sides, but, despite some missteps, Bradley attempts to strike an informed balance with the perspective of more than half a century. And with a CNN prime-time documentary to air at publication and a 25-city author tour, he should have no trouble reaching all comers. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT - Raymond Puffer, Ph.D.

The wartime exploits of George Herbert Walker Bush are well known. The youngest pilot in the Navy at the time, flying the burly Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber, Bush had an exciting but unremarkable war up until the day when his squadron bombed an enemy stronghold and the young man's luck ran out. His plane riddled with flak and burning fiercely with two dead crewmen in the back, Bush had to bail out into enemy waters. At that, he was lucky. This book is the tale of nine Navy airmen whose planes were shot down over Chichi Jima that day. Eight of them were soon captured, and suffered unimaginably before they were barbarously executed. An American submarine fished the ninth from the sea, and he lived to become the 41st president of the United States. Bradley revisits this tale of what happened in one day in 1945. Without cringing, he confronts the reader with war as it sometimes can be. While the Japanese brutality toward their prisoners is boldly presented, the book is not a polemic against the island's defenders. Instead, Bradley presents the tragedies as he sees them; both sides fight fiercely, average people do their jobs with unselfconscious bravery, and young people die. Bradley knows something about battlefield bravery. His father was one of the six Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, and he wrote about it in the best-selling Flags of our Fathers (Bantam, 2001). Meanwhile, even as the historic episode was being photographed for posterity, the distressing events were taking place on nearby Chichi Jima. Unfortunately, however, Flyboys also has some inherent shortcomings. Retelling historical events through the eyes of its characters inevitably meansinventing dialog and putting thoughts into the heads of people long dead. This technique, now called "literary nonfiction," is becoming ever more popular among writers today. The author's motives are probably pure, but inevitably he must portray their most intimate behavior as he himself sees it. This book is also peppered with small technical errors—even the term Flyboy is mildly disparaging—that greater familiarity with the subject would have prevented. That said, the book remains a vivid and exciting lesson of one episode in WW II. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, Little Brown, Back Bay, 404p. illus. notes. bibliog. index., Ages 15 to adult.

Library Journal

How can you follow up a blockbuster like Flags of Our Fathers? With a book that reveals what happened to seven U.S. airmen shot down over Chichi Jima and captured by Japanese troops, never to be seen again. An eighth airman who managed to escape happened to be named George H.W. Bush. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile

Atrocity has always been a part of war, but after WWII the details of the horrors of the Japanese POW camps remained rumors for years. Flyboys shares the story of eight American pilots captured by the Japanese in the waning days of the war. Even George H.W. Bush, the young pilot who escaped capture, didn't know the story until his presidency. James Bradley succeeds at recreating the lives of the men on both sides of the war. He reads his material gracefully, making the soldiers sympathetic, but tends to tease the listener a bit too much by hinting of the pilots' grisly fate. While its message of forgiveness is well stated, this book doesn't spare the details of the horror of cannibalism, which some listeners will want to avoid. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews