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Daring Young Men : The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift-June 1948-May 1949 by Richard Reeves (2011, Trade Paperback)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherSimon & Schuster

ISBN-101416541209

ISBN-139781416541202

eBay Product ID (ePID)84339750

Product Key Features

Book TitleDaring Young Men : the Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift-June 1948-May 1949

Number of Pages336 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicEurope / Germany, Military / General, Modern / 20th Century, Military / United States, General, Aviation / Piloting & Flight Instruction, Europe / Great Britain / General

Publication Year2011

IllustratorYes

GenreTransportation, History

AuthorRichard Reeves

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight13.1 Oz

Item Length8.5 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

Reviews"In so many ways the Berlin Airlift was one of the pivotal air battles of World War II -- even if it did come after everyone thought all the fighting was over. Richard Reeves' account ofDaring Young Menis a dazzling story of bravado, management genius and the perilous circumstances of our first great showdown with Stalin's Russia. I loved every page." -- Tom Brokaw, "Daring Young Mentells a story that is at times comical, at times tragic, but at all times inspiring. Richard Reeves illustrates the magnitude of the gamble that was the Berlin Airlift by focusingon the courage and determination of those who turned it into the most successful single operation of the Cold War." -- Andrew Nagorski, author ofThe Greatest Battle, "This is the enthralling account of one of the shining moments in our national memory. The Berlin Airlift was a triumph of personal courage and diplomatic resolve, and the story has never been told with greater power and empathy." -- Donald L. Miller, author ofMasters of the Air, "One of our greatest historians and storytellers takes on one of the most glorious tales of our times. Richard Reeves makes the Berlin Airlift come alive by telling it through the eyes of ordinary young men who performed in an extraordinary manner. It has the excitement of a novel and the urgency of reality." -- Walter Isaacson, author ofEinstein, "Too often overlooked in the annals of Cold War history, or, for that matter, the triumphs of the Greatest Generation, is the epic Berlin Airlift. With considerable insight, Richard Reeves brings this dramatic first great battle of the Cold War to life, a battle in which the world held its breath and the bomber boys displayed untold bravado and heroism. This is a wonderful book, richly told." -- Jay Winik, author ofApril 1865andThe Great Upheaval, "With the skill of a historian, and the story-telling ability of a novelist, Richard Reeves retells the almost forgotten story of the Berlin Airlift and of the gifted inspiring effort of the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force to supply the daily needs of the population of an isolated and besieged West Berlin. It is a great aviation drama, full of heroes, at the very height of the Cold War." -- Michael Korda, author ofWith Wings Like Eagles

SynopsisIn the early hours of June 26, 1948, phones began ringing across America, waking up the airmen of World War II--pilots, navigators, and mechanics--who were finally beginning normal lives with new houses, new jobs, new wives, and new babies. Some were given just forty-eight hours to report to local military bases. The president, Harry S. Truman, was recalling them to active duty to try to save the desperate people of the western sectors of Berlin, the enemy capital many of them had bombed to rubble only three years before. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had ordered a blockade of the city, isolating the people of West Berlin, using hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers to close off all land and water access to the city. He was gambling that he could drive out the small detachments of American, British, and French occupation troops, because their only option was to stay and watch Berliners starve--or retaliate by starting World War III. The situation was impossible, Truman was told by his national security advisers, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His answer: "We stay in Berlin. Period." That was when the phones started ringing and local police began banging on doors to deliver telegrams to the vets. Drawing on service records and hundreds of interviews in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, Reeves tells the stories of these civilian airmen, the successors to Stephen Ambrose's "Citizen Soldiers," ordinary Americans again called to extraordinary tasks. They did the impossible, living in barns and muddy tents, flying over Soviet-occupied territory day and night, trying to stay awake, making it up as they went along and ignoring Russian fighters and occasional anti-aircraft fire trying to drive them to hostile ground. The Berlin Airlift changed the world. It ended when Stalin backed down and lifted the blockade, but only after the bravery and sense of duty of those young heroes had bought the Allies enough time to create a new West Germany and sign the mutual defense agreement that created NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. And then they went home again. Some of them forgot where they had parked their cars after they got the call.