Hit the Target, Bill Yenne
Hit the Target, Bill Yenne
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Hit the Target
Eight Men Who Led the Eighth Air Force to Victory Over the Luftwaffe

Author: Bill Yenne

Narrator: Corey M. Snow

Unabridged: 10 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 12/09/2016


Synopsis

Less than a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army formed its first air force designated to operate overseas, the Eighth. Within four months, they had set up base in England. Three months later, they were bombing German targets in occupied Europe. The Eighth was the first bomber command on either side to commit to strategic daylight bombing. It was a major change in tactics-and the men of the Eighth paid the price in both lives and blood. But it was that very sacrifice that led the Allies to victory. Hit the Target introduces readers to those who made the Eighth Air Force the formidable juggernaut it soon became. Men of all ranks, from General Tooey Spaatz, the hard-driving founding commander, to Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, the hero who led the first air raid on Japan, to Maynard "Snuffy" Smith, the irascible first airman in Europe to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, who survived his time with the "Bloody Hundredth," which lost airmen at a horrifying rate, and who went on to serve as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. The story of the Mighty Eighth is told through these men, whose careers paralleled the early history of aviation and who helped to revolutionize airborne warfare and win World War II.

About Bill Yenne

Bill Yenne is the author of more than three dozen books on historical topics, as well as several novels. He has contributed to encyclopedias of both world wars, and has been featured in several documentaries which have aired on the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Smithsonian Channel and ARD German Television. The Wall Street Journal notes that Yenne writes "with a cinematic vividness."

Yenne has also written extensively about the history of beer and brewing. His Guinness: The 250 Year Quest for the Perfect Pint was listed among the top business books of the year by Conde Nast Portfolio Magazine while the same publication rated the book as its top pick for "Cocktail Conversation."

Yenne's novels have included the Bladen Cole Westerns; an alternate history about General George Patton entitled A Damned Fine War, and the Raptor Force trilogy, an action-adventure series.

Yenne lives in San Francisco, California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chad on May 15, 2017

Another slice of the pie in the history of the 8th Air Force, particularly aimed at WWII. What I liked most, and am biased, is as a former commander of he 100th Air Refueling Wing whose heritage is the 100th Bomb Group, are the specific stories about Bob Rosenthal and the adventures of the Bloody Hu......more

Goodreads review by William on November 28, 2022

I'm not sure I know what to make of this book. I enjoyed the stories about the eight individuals whom the author, Bill Yenne chose to represent the varied backgrounds of the 350,000 members of the Eight Air Force. Those eight are: Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, Ira Eaker, Jimmy Doolittle, Curtis LeMay, Maynar......more

Goodreads review by William on August 15, 2018

An excellent book on the seven air force and its leaders and one lone enlisted man who was quite a character! Kept keep spellbound from beginning to end!......more

Goodreads review by Marc on February 06, 2023

excellent book about war aviation!......more

Goodreads review by Mark on September 23, 2024

Fascinating look at the famous 8th Air Force. Read a few books on this recently and now have a better feel on their contribution......more