Above the Reich, Colin Heaton
Above the Reich, Colin Heaton
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Above the Reich
Deadly Dogfights, Blistering Bombing Raids, and Other War Stories from the Greatest American Air Heroes of World War II, in Their Own Words

Author: Colin Heaton, Anne-Marie Lewis

Narrator: MacLeod Andrews, Mark Bramhall, Arthur Morey, Pete Bradbury, Dominic Hoffman, Fred Sanders, Patricia Santomasso, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Barrett Leddy

Unabridged: 12 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 06/08/2021


Synopsis

Sensational eyewitness accounts from the most heroic and legendary American aviators of World War II, never before published as a book

They are voices lost to time. Beginning in the late 1970s, five veteran airmen sat for private interviews. Decades after the guns fell silent, they recounted in vivid detail the most dangerous missions that made the difference in the war. Ed Haydon dueled with the deadliest of German aces—and forced him to the ground. Robert Johnson racked up twenty-seven kills in his P-47 Thunderbolt, but nearly lost his life when his plane was shot to ribbons and his guns jammed. Cigar-chomping Curtis LeMay was the Air Corps general who devised the bomber tactics that pummeled Germany's war machine. Robin Olds was a West Point football hero who became one of the most dogged, aggressive fighter pilots in the European theater, relentlessly pursuing Germans in his P-38 Lightning. And Jimmy Doolittle became the most celebrated American airman of the war—maybe even of all time—after he led the audacious raid to bomb Tokyo. Today these heroes are long gone, but now, in this incredible volume, they tell their stories in their own words.

About The Author

Colin Heaton is a military historian, former soldier and Marine sniper, professor, and specialist in interviewing military veterans. Anne-Marie Lewis holds a BA from American Military University (Hon) in International Relations Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping and an MA in International Relations National Security Issues and Counterterrorism. She has worked as a photographer with the Doolittle Raiders, Black Sheep, and Tuskegee Airmen and has been featured in both publications and advertising. She has also co-authored several military histories and biographies. A South Carolina native, she currently works in Cybersecurity in Atlanta, Georgia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ionia on November 26, 2021

Books like this one add so much to histories that could have been entirely lost were it not for conscientious recorders. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to read this book. Some of the interviews done in this book I have not seen anywhere else, and even for the more well-known popular figure......more

Goodreads review by Michael on January 13, 2021

These are exquisite eyewitness accounts from birds' eyes, both literally and figuratively, spoken by five aviators in World War II, deeply personal accounts that are granular in their detail, yet also provide deep emotional texture. Some of the voices reminded me of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. A terr......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on June 12, 2021

Five WWII Fighter Pilots Tell Their Story WWII is now a long time ago and many of the major actors are no longer with us. The desire to get some of the stories before the men died led the author in the seventies to interview five WWII pilots who were famous for their exploits The pilots include Jimmy......more

Goodreads review by Scott on January 08, 2022

(4.5 stars) This was a good oral history of some of the key men who flew in the air war in World War II in Europe. Additionally, some of these men, mainly Olds and LeMay, went on to greater impact on American Air Power during the Cold War and Vietnam. The interviews that Heaton and Lewis procured an......more

Goodreads review by patrick on March 07, 2024

This book is about the fights in the skies over Europe during WWII. Not just the bombing runs that everyone has heard or read about but here are stories told by men who were in them. I know people say we forget about the Pacific but really we read about their dog fights quite a bit, but not so much......more


Quotes

"Readers with military background in general, and interest in and knowledge of the war in particular, will welcome and applaud this revealing history. Readers encountering information about the war for the first time may have their eyeballs pop out on springs. . . . The text pulls you along like an action/adventure novel, owing to the vivid voices of these five men and the obstacles they had to overcome. At the same time, it feels like you’re sitting in the same room with them hearing the stories firsthand."
New York Journal of Books

"Colin Heaton has once again produced a series of first-person accounts from the men who made aviation history. . . . An invaluable addition to military history."
Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of A Higher Call and Spearhead

"Among the top tier of World War II histories."
Jay A. Stout, author of Hell's Angels