Hot Shots: An Oral History of the Air Force Combat Pilots of the Korean War

I'll make it short and sweet: Excellent reading. For anyone interested in flight. Lots of stories straight from the pilots.

I had the pleasure of reading Hot Shots, and was amazed the find a rather strange and vague negative review. I suspect that there is more to the ameteur revviewer's attitude than the he admits, jealousy or the intent ot write his own book perhaps? Mr. Dargon's review is full of innuendo and complaints with no actual details. I found Hot Shots excellent and checked several of the "facts" in the first chapter with the official history of war and they all jive. Moreover the firsthand accounts gave me insight and were exciting to read. If you want to understand what real flying was before all the technology, but at jet speeds. read this book. It is a very good thing that someone was able to put it together while the first 'hot shots", when that meant what it says, are still alive. Well written and a unique inside look at the first modern air combats.

This was a good compilation of personal accounts as reported by the author. Unfortunately, I found the accounts to be a bit too short to draw me in. The exception to this was the pilot describing his experience in a Chinese POW camp - this was fascinating and warranted a whole book in itself.The book went too quickly for me. It was a good, easy read but left me wanting more - and not in the same way that a good book should leave you wanting more. I guess I had hoped for more depth, a better feel for what it was like to be a fighter jock in the Korean War. Each account was just too abbreviated to develop the overall picture. I could have spent days talking to anyone of his sources yet instead I felt like we had a brief conversation in passing. Still, if you have a strong interest in this period, I wouldn't pass it up.