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Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943, Revised Edition (Brassey's Aviation Classics) | 
 enlarge | Authors: James Dugan, Carroll Stewart
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $14.93
You Save: $7.02 (32%)
New (5) Used (9) from $12.36
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 764151
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1574885103
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.542198
EAN: 9781574885101
ASIN: 1574885103
Publication Date: August 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
On August 1, 1943, an enormous armada of America B-24 Liberator bombers roared at nearly treetop level across the peaceful farms and villages of Romania. This mission was Operation Tidal Wave. Its target"the taproot of German might," Hitlers giant oil refineries at Ploesti. Hundreds of U.S. airmen volunteered for the mission despite warnings that half might not return. In thirty minutes, more firepower was exchanged than in two Gettysburgs, and five men earned the Medal of Honor. Ploesti presents a vivid reconstruction of a dramatic and controversial mission.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 KEITH B. August 31, 2007
A VIVID RETELLING OF ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING & DARING AIR BATTLES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. SINCE I FIRST LEARNED OF THIS MISION WHEN I WAS A TEEN, IT HAS ALWAYS FASCINATED ME AND IT'S ALL THE MORE COMPELLING WHEN YOU REALIZE MOST OF THE FLYERS KNEW "COMING BACK WAS SECONDARY". MORE CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS OF HONOR WERE AWARDED ON THIS MISION THAN ON ANY OTHER SINGLE MISSION AND IT FILLS ME WITH PATRIOTIC PRIDE TO READ SUCH A
THOROUGH ACCOUNT OF "Operation Tidal Wave".
 Memorable Account of a Legendary Air Raid of WW2 May 5, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I first read this book in 1964 when I was fifteen & never forgot
its description of the battle which one squadron of B-24s (flying so low that at least one plane returned with corn stalks stuck in its rear wheel well) fought at machine gun range with a Nazi armored flak train traveling in the same direction as the overtaking bombers -- to Ploesti. A mix-up caused three groups to approach the target simultaneously from three different directions at three different altitudes, stunning the German flak commander with what he thought was incredible American air tactics. I re-read it fifteen years ago & would like to read it again but find it is almost impossible to find at a reasonable price in its original edition -- so many libraries have ditched it due to wear or lack of interest. A great shame because it is one of the best accounts of a bombing mission I have ever read. My own dad was a teenage engine mechanic (fresh out of Aviation H.S. in NYC) of a B-29 -- 'Bengal Lancer' -- in India and on Tinian Island in the Pacific.
 A Peek Into Post-War Triumphalism October 25, 2004
This work is best viewed not as an objctive history of the event but rather a look into the attitudes of New Frontier America towards the war that America and the Kennedy generation had won. It is to that era and audience to which this work was addressed. The book brims with superlatives and lacks any real criticism or analysis of America training, equipment or tactics at the time of the raid. British and Commonwealth figures who do make it into the text are suitably odd colorful characters such as the RAF squadron leader (major in US-terms) who pops up as a gunnery expert. Germans are stoic and somehow unmenacingly militaristic and certainly not Nazis.
Perhaps the sadist part of this far to optomistic look at the USAAF's daylight bombing campaign is the uncritical acceptance of the wartime bomb damage assesment. This gave the Tidal Wave crews credit for reducing Ploesti's refined oil output by 50-70% for the rest of the war. According to the US Strategic Bombing Survey such levels of destruction were not reached until more than a year later after a series of much larger raids by the 15th Air Force. Read has history pretty bad, but as a socialogical look at America in 1963, quite good.
The Best and Most Accurate for the time November 25, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am overjoyed that this great book is once again in print. Dugan and Stewart, both of whom served with the Army Air Forces in World War II and knew many of the participants, were in a unique position that later writers are not. While they were somewhat handicapped in that some of the documents related to World War II were still classified when they were writing, their information was based on knowledge provided by the participants when they were still young men, with the memories fresh in their minds, and less convulted by the effects of the distance of years and their own personal aging. I bought and read the original while on my way to US Air Force basic training in the summer of 1963 and it is still one of favorite books. Although modern enthusiasts attempt to pick it apart, it will always remain the most important book on the Ploesti campaigns.Sam McGowan, Author "The Cave", a novel of the Vietnam War
 Entertaining but not accurate December 18, 2001
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Definitely not the best book available about the low level mission;this is an entertaining book which is full of errors,notably the statement that Wongo Wongo {which crashed into the sea}was the lead plane.The lead plane was always Teggie Ann,a fact which can be verified by talking to members of the 376th bomb group.Still of some interest as long as the book is read with a skeptical eye.Black Sunday is better,though still flawed.
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