Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders

This is the first of two books that Glines wrote specifically on the Doolittle Japan mission. "Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders" was published in 1964 and was the first comprehensive history of the mission. (Okay, James Merrill published his "Target Tokyo: The Doolittle-Halsey Raid" the same year, but Glines' account is the better of those two.) Of particular interest in the 1964 book are the 16 accounts that Glines elicited from a crew member of each of the 16 B-25s that took part in the raid, as well as the individual photographs of each five-man crew. Several years later, Glines decided to write an updated (1988) account of the raid, emphasizing information that had come to light since the 1964 book -- e.g., the story of the Japanese fishing vessels that "intercepted" Halsey's task force on April 18, 1942, and forced an early takeoff by the B-25s. That second book is "The Doolittle Raid." and while it uses much of the same information as "Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders," it is NOT just a revised/updated version of the earlier book. If I had to choose one over the other, I'd definitely seek out a copy of the earlier (1964) book. mainly because of the crew member accounts from each aircraft. Although the later (1988) book probably is cheaper and easier to find, the updated information doesn't add a great deal to the basic story of this extraordinary feat. Ideally, you should read/own both. I won't claim to have read every book on the Doolittle raid. Of those I have seen (including Craig Nelson's "The First Heroes" and Duane Schultz's "The Doolittle Raid"), some are better written, but none are more informative than Glines. Note that Glines also authored "Four Came Home," an account of the Doolittle raiders who were captured by the Japanese, and co-authored Doolittle's autobiography, "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again." He's pretty much the man from Doolittle Raid headquarters.

"Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders," by Carroll V. Glines, provides a good description of the famous 1942 Doolittle Raid. At a time when America was on the defensive, sixteeen medium-size bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and bombed industrial targets in Japan. Led by the well-known Jimmy Doolittle, the raid had a profound psychological impact on the early American war effort. From Glines' work, one can understand the general aspects of this mission.At times, Glines uses somewhat simplified and under-technical wording. Accordingly, the book reads like a wartime morale booster, which is rather fitting because that was the mission's purpose. Some of the quotes found in the book are heavy in 1940s lingo. For instance, pilots preparing for the raid did not know many details due to secrecy, but they knew that "something big was cooking!" This made the book much more enjoyable to read. The events of the Doolittle Raid need to be told and remembered. For those having no knowledge of the raid, this book is a good place to start.