Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the U.S. Air Force, 1947-1997

This book is not for the faint hearted. It is written by Walter Boyne, a former Air Force Colonel. Boyne has written many other books on US Aircraft and was the director of the National Air and Space Museum. Those who served in the Air Force anytime from WW2 to the present may be familiar with the key players here and enjoy this book. The primary audience will be aviation historians. The book is a very detailed study of the civilian leaders & Generals who shaped our Air Force, decisions made and why. It covers every aspect of military life - the politics, the people, budgets, war demands, impact of technology, doctrine, quality of life for Air Force members to name but a few. I particulary like the fact that Boyne gives his opinion on issues and people. The book can bog down at times, but Boyne is able to shed light on so many different aspects of the Air Force, there is always something new to be learned here. The bibliography is as helpful as is the last section - the chronology of aerospace power since 1903. Sounds dry until you start to read it. This is not a book on any specific plane - no nuts and bolts here. Modelers, keep looking. For serious students of aviation history, this is a gold mine of information. Boyne recognizes and gives attention to those who understood the most important part of the Air Force are not its planes, but its people and this is where the focus of the book lies. A real tribute to the many thousands who have served, made a difference, and helped to shape the US Air Force into what it is today- the world's best.

I have read many books on the subject of the USAF, and I must say, this is THE BEST ever. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a great deal of information, presented in a very readable way, and without being overloaded with statistics. This new edition (2007) brings you up to date, from the formation of the United States Air Force as an independent branch of the U.S. DoD, to the present day, cutting edge "WOW" technology, up to and including OEF and OIF. Awesome!

This is a clear logical and easy to follow history of the Air Force. Some interesting observations are made, especially regarding the Vietnam conflict. This is a book obviously written by someone who was watching the Air Force develop from the inside. A Good read that happens to inform.

The tone for this compelling and comprehensive history of the Air Force as a separate military service is exquisitely and movingly cast in the foreword by the distinguished journalist Hugh Sidey. Describing the overflight of Air Force One at the funeral of President Kennedy, Time Magazine's chronicler of Camelot reveals that he interpreted this tribute to the fallen leader of the free world as "an enduring promise that the Air Force would hold the heavens. . . ." Walter Boyne, a retired Air Force bomber pilot and a former Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, proceeds to fill in the details of just how the Air Force kept that promise in this remarkably thorough study. With the advantage of having lived through much of the history he writes about, Boyne offers up an intriguing and fact-filled narrative of the personalities and events that shaped the Air Force. This is a book that anyone interested in the Air Force or military aviation must read. On the outskirts of Dayton, Ohio, not far from the expanse of prairie land where the Wright brothers instructed fledging Army aviators, like future Chief of Staff Henry "Hap" Arnold, is the enormous infrastructure of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, home of the service's research and development efforts, the Air Force's window into the future. At one point in his illustrious career, Arnold commanded the base, and in cognizance of the value of military tradition the Air Force has preserved in period motif the stately officer's quarters once occupied by Arnold. One can imagine the great airpower strategist, if he were alive today, attired in his pinks and greens, jodphurs and leather belt with chest strap, relaxing in one of the Arnold House's fluffy chairs with a gas lantern glowing nearby, reading and enjoying Walter Boyne's outstanding book about the history of the service that the general himself had willed into being. If the leaders of today's Air Force were smart, they would make Boyne's beautifully written history required reading for all officers under their command.

Historically and technically accurate. Excellent description of the maturing af out first line of offense and defense. Boyne really knows, and shows tempered perspective covering 50 years of increduble advances in Air Force systems and management