MASTERS OF THE AIR

UK/Commonw.: Ebury Press/PRH ; Dutch: Karakter; French: Michel Lafon ; Polish: Replika ; Portuguese (Brazilian): Editora Bertrand ; Thai: Legend Books

Absorbing and exhaustive. Miller leaves no doubt as to the contribution of the Eighth Air Force to defeating the Germans and helping end what could have been a much longer war.

Over the first years of World War II, the only American casualties on European soil were flyboys shot out of the sky. Long before Normandy, America's bomber boys waged the Allies' longest WWII campaign and brought the war to Hitler. Now we are fortunate that the incomparable Donald Miller has brought the memory of these Masters of the Air back to us.

Masters of the Air will be the streaming event of 2024 from AppleTV+ - Premiering January 26, 2024 Starring Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Austin Butler, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, Masters of the Air is the thrilling conclusion to the Hanks/Spielberg World War II trilogy that includes Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Read more...

For sixty years we have waited for a history to equal the epic saga of the Eighth Air Force's struggle with fighters, flak and weather on a battlefield mov- ing at three miles per minute five miles above the earth's crust. Now it is here. With brilliant artistry, Don Miller paints the story from the palette of the voices of the men who manned the planes or waited them out.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have bought the rights to MASTERS OF THE AIR by Donald Miller for an HBO mini-series, following in the footsteps of BAND OF BROTHERS and THE PACIFIC. Read more...

The book was going to originally appear as an HBO series, but will now be an Apple TV pick with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks producing. The series will run for 8 hours with a budget of over $200 million. This new series will equal that of Spielberg's and Hank's Band of Brothers and The Pacific both Emmy award-winning series. The film is filming now and expected to air late 2020 or early 2021. Read more...

[A] searching, thoroughly engrossing history of the American air war against Nazi Germany. Vividly recreates the day-to-day life of the men who flew the missions and their comrades on the ground. Unflinchingly describes the devastation wrought by the civilian bombing campaign and tackles the moral issues head-on. Mr. Miller has a fluid way of moving from discussion of the- ory and tactics to the personal stories that give them human weight.

Miller's work is always extraordinary but this large volume is especially remarkable for its valuable recovery of details, like all the psychiatric ruin of the many bomber boys assigned to kill German civilians. This is a rare account of the American Eighth Air Force, and with so many readers hoodwinked by fantasies of The Good War, it deserves wide acceptance and ultimate enshrinement as a classic.

Masters of the Air sucks the wind out of the reader. It is a piece of history that accurately and comprehensively tells the story of the Eighth Air Force going mano a mano against a tough and determined foe. The incredible cost to both sides is recounted in riveting detail. It left me shaken.

Today's ranking on Amazon (14 YEARS after its Oct 2006 pub date) - #56 in Military Aviation History (Books) - #133 in German History (Books) - #412 in World War II History (Books)

Donald L. Miller's Masters of the Air is a stunning achievement. The compound effect of the book's narrative vitality and attention to human detail is terrific in all the meanings of the wordterrifying, extraordinary, highly ad- mirable. What a story it is.