A little bit about US versus Japanese aircraft in WW2

[hamiclar01]

Reach for the Sky the amazing story of Douglas Bader, who flew as a paraplegic

I thought his legs were amputated in an accident rather than being paraplegic

And you break my heart gentlemen. Why only movies? Why not books. There are more than a few extensively researched, well written works not pandering to the lowest common denominators or big screen thrills. As it is, film versions of books like "Cruel sea" are limited to skimming the tops of some very deep works.

Paul Brickhill's "Great Escape" and "Dambusters", Guy Gibson's "Enemy Coast ahead", or Len Deighton's "Blitzkrieg", "Fighter" and "Bomber", Anthony Beevor's iconic "Stalingrad"....And if you want the war in Asia/Pacific, "Shattered sword" has no equal, "Road of bones" is very good (though it skips India) and Sakai's "Samurai" is a nail biting autobiography.......a few of the many names that I can think of.

[timmy]

Anand, yes, you are right -- I used the wrong word. As I recall, he had a stump on one leg and somewhat more left of the other, and was fitted with artificial limbs on both.

After his accident, he learned to walk, and then to fly. When he applied for reinstatement in the RAF, he was rejected, tried again, rejected again, over and over until the British were so hard up for experienced pilots they almost had no choice, but to give him a shot. Not only did he fly again, but he was shot down and escaped form a German POW camp.

I know that the books you listed are good ones (At least, in most cases. Though his books have also served as the bases for screenplays, I would have difficulty being willing to read a book by Len Deighton.) and I should read them, but they really aren't in my line of reading material, except for Parshall's and Tully's book, which is on my "must read" list somewhere down the road.

My own idea of a "nail biter," i.e., one that I enjoy as a thriller, would be something along the lines of The Guns of August, by Barbara Tuchman, The Collapse of the Third Republic and [/]The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich[/i] by William Shirer, or American Caesar by William Manchester. I like something that has a wide scope with regard to world events, and generally prefer footnoted works. But, that's just me.

All that said, however, I still love cinema. The art in the filming and acting of something like The Great Escape or, even more, Lawrence of Arabia will always intrigue and captivate me. Yes, I know there are liberties taken for film, but the art has its own attraction for me.

[hamiclar01]

ahhh..., William Shirer. "The rise and fall..." was my first purchase, as a teenager, out of my very first measly earning.
"The Guns of August", though a good read, was quite one sided, I found. All Allies: good, all Germans :bad...finito. I like works presenting both sides of the picture.

Though his books have also served as the bases for screenplays, I would have difficulty being willing to read a book by Len Deighton.) .

Then, I must hastily direct you to "Fighter: the true story of the Battle of Britain", which, IMHO, is the best book on the subject

[Mark]

"Duel of Eagles" byPeter Townsend is a good book focusing primarily on the Battle of Britain, the author was the first pilot in the war to shoot down a german plane that landed on English soil (IIRC, been a while since I last read it).

He also wrote another book "The Smallest Pawns in the Game" about how kids always get the short end of the stick in a war. He sold all his medals and donated the proceeds to help refugees in modern wars.