B-17 at War

Air & Space Power Journal, Summer, 2007 by Robert F. Tate

B-17 at War by Bill Yenne. Zenith Press (http://www.zenithpress.com), 729 Prospect Avenue, P.O. Box 1, Osceola, Wisconsin 54020, 2006, 128 pages, $19.95 (softcover).

When people think about American airpower in World War II, several images stand out. There are perhaps no other icons more compelling than the elegant silhouette of the magnificent Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Whether painted in camouflaged olive drab or glistening in its unpainted natural silver finish, this aircraft, bristling with .50-caliber machine guns, struck fear and demanded respect from its German adversaries in the Luftwaffe. Against this backdrop, Bill Yenne adds to the already overcrowded history of this amazing airplane.

A San Francisco--based author, Yenne has written more than two dozen books on the military, aviation, and other historical topics, including the excellent Story of the Boeing Company (Zenith Press, 2005). Because of his knowledge of the history of one of America's most significant companies, it comes as no surprise that the author decided to narrow his focus to one of Boeing's most important aircraft. What is surprising, however, is the lack of detail in this rather expensive paperback.

Like other authors of the publisher's At War series, Yenne probably had to encapsulate as much history of the B-17 as possible within a limited number of pages. Considering the plethora of B-17 books available,many of themhundreds of pages in length, trying to put the entire history of such a magnificent machine into fewer than 130 pages is no small feat. Unsurprisingly, the author falls a little short in this attempt.

Although B-17 at War contains more than 100 excellent photographs, 32 of them in color, it includes no cutaway drawings, color plates, profile comparisons between B-17 variants, or maps of the operating areas in Europe, the Pacific, or the Mediterranean. Although the development of combatbox formations, which helped thwart attacks by Luftwaffe fighters, contributed to the B-17's success, one finds no detailed mention or illustrations of them. The book does, however, discuss the littleknown but nevertheless interesting operational history of the B-17 in the Pacific. Although B-17 at War details an inventory of the aircraft for selected months as well as the number of variants and their specifications, it never fully gets off the ground as a significant work of history. For example, Yenne talks about the YB-40 (B-17 gunship) but omits any pictures of this aircraft. Simply put, B-17 at War provides a look at B-17 operations on an almost day-byday basis, illustrated throughout with photographs, but offers very little new information, no detailed analysis of bomber operations, and too few stories of the men who flew this great airplane in combat.

Despite its simple, clean presentation, I find it difficult to recommend this book since it presents little or nothing in terms of historical significance; in reality, it is a rehash of the dozens of other B-17 books already on the market. If readers want another B-17 book with several new photographs and many of the same ones from other books, then they may want to add it to their collection. If, however, they prefer a fresh look at the B-17, along with new stories of bravery and courage under fire, then B-17 at War is not for them.

Lt Col Robert F. Tate, USAFR

Maxwell AFB, Alabama