LeMay was a terrifying, complex, and brilliant general. In World War II, he ordered the firebombing of Tokyo and was in charge when Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was responsible for tens of thousands of civilian deaths--a fact he liked to celebrate by smoking Cuban cigars. But LeMay was also the man who single-handedly transformed the American air force from a ramshackle team of poorly trained and badly equipped pilots into one of the fiercest and most efficient weapons of the war. Over the last decades, most U.S. military missions were carried out entirely through the employment of the Air Force; this is LeMay's legacy. Packed with breathtaking battles in the air and inspiring leadership tactics on the ground, LeMay will keep readers on their edge of their seats.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Solid INtroduction to the Subject:
LeMay is probably best known for his "bomb them back to the stone age" suggestion on how to win the Vietnam War. He is also rumored to have been the inspiration for the crazed Air Force general Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove." This book helps to set the record straight. LeMay was certainly one of the leading advocates of strategic bombing. He masterminded the fire bombing of Japanese cities in World War II, directed the Berlin Airlift, and essentially created the Strategic Air Command... more info
Concise, objective, overdue biography of controversial, influential figure:
Considering Curtis LeMay's long-term influence on air power (from before WW II into the early Vietnam era), it is astonishing that there has only been one prior biography: Thomas Coffey's Iron Eagle (1986). This entry in the Great Generals series therefore is the first biography since LeMay's death in 1990. The author clearly knows his subject. He has produced a concise, objective study of one of the most controversial military figures of the 20th century, and one of the most significant. Tillman... more info
A Quick and Dirty Overview:
This book is a quick and dirty overview of the life and career of Curtis E. LeMay. The biography is rather thin and it hits only the highlights of the general's life. All the books in this series are on the short side and serve more as brief introductions to their subjects than authoritative accounts. There is only so much Tillman can do in the space that he has available and given the constraints he faces, he does a good job. Tillman is a sympathetic biographer and does an exceptional job of explaining... more info
I wanted more than this book could give me:
If the Cold War could be wrapped up into one person it would be Curtis LeMay. The U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) was LeMay and LeMay was SAC. I knew the History Channel facts about Lemay, but I wanted to know more. Unfortunately this book left me wanting. At only 191 small pages, it was tough to really get into deep historical research or analysis for a figure as large and important as LeMay. I got the feeling the author was just cranking the book out. It did have the feel of a cliff... more info
