China's Wings: War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of Flight

by Gregory Crouch

From the acclaimed author of Enduring Patagonia comes a dazzling tale of aerial adventure set against the roiling backdrop of war in Asia. The incredible real-life saga of the flying band of brothers who opened the skies over China in the years leading up to World War II—and boldly safeguarded them during that conflict—China’s Wings is one of the most exhilarating untold chapters in the annals of flight.
 
At the center of the maelstrom is the book’s courtly, laconic protagonist, American aviation executive William Langhorne Bond. In search of adventure, he arrives in Nationalist China in 1931, charged with turning around the turbulent nation’s flagging airline business, the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). The mission will take him to the wild and lawless frontiers of commercial aviation: into cockpits with daredevil pilots flying—sometimes literally—on a wing and a prayer; into the dangerous maze of Chinese politics, where scheming warlords and volatile military officers jockey for advantage; and into the boardrooms, backrooms, and corridors of power inhabited by such outsized figures as Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; foreign minister T. V. Soong; Generals Arnold, Stilwell, and Marshall; and legendary Pan American Airways founder Juan Trippe.
 
With the outbreak of full-scale war in 1941, Bond and CNAC are transformed from uneasy spectators to active participants in the struggle against Axis imperialism. Drawing on meticulous research, primary sources, and extensive personal interviews with participants, Gregory Crouch offers harrowing accounts of brutal bombing runs and heroic evacuations, as the fight to keep one airline flying becomes part of the larger struggle for China’s survival. He plunges us into a world of perilous night flights, emergency water landings, and the constant threat of predatory Japanese warplanes. When Japanese forces capture Burma and blockade China’s only overland supply route, Bond and his pilots must battle shortages of airplanes, personnel, and spare parts to airlift supplies over an untried five-hundred-mile-long aerial gauntlet high above the Himalayas—the infamous “Hump”—pioneering one of the most celebrated endeavors in aviation history.
 
A hero’s-eye view of history in the grand tradition of Lynne Olson’s Citizens of London, China’s Wings takes readers on a mesmerizing journey to a time and place that reshaped the modern world.

Genres: History, Aviation, Nonfiction, China, World History, Military History, Military Fiction

528 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Gregory Crouch is an author who specializes in adventurous and historic subjects.

Most recently, he is the author of The Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle Over the Greatest Riches in the American West (Scribner, 2018). Crouch also wrote the true-life World War II flying adventure China’s Wings (Bantam, 2012) and the mountaineering memoir Enduring Patagonia (Random House, 2001).

Crouch has reviewed more than 30 books for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times Book Review, and NPR Books, among others, and has published stories in The Atlantic, National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, Smithsonian, Time, American History, World War II, Islands, Outside, Popular Mechanics, Backpacker, and many other national and regional media, and dozens of adventure stories for Rock & Ice, Ascent, Alpinist, and Climbing, where he was a senior contributing editor. He is also the author of Goldline: Stories of Climbing Adventure and Tradition (The Mountaineers, 2001) and Route Finding: Navigating with a Map and Compass (Falcon, 1999).

Crouch and his work have been quoted in the New York Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Forbes, Nautilus, Alpinist, the Washington Post, the South China Morning Post, and by NPR.

A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Crouch also completed U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger schools and led two infantry platoons. He left the Army to pursue other interests, most notably in rock and ice climbing and high-stakes international mountaineering. He developed a particular obsession with the storm-swept peaks of Patagonia and made seven expeditions to those remote mountains, where he made a number of world-class first ascents.

Reviews

[Gregory Crouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am I allowed to rate my own book? I hope so.

I've just finished reading my advance copy, possibly my last read through after so many dozens of others, and it's everything I hoped it would be when I started working on it eight years ago.

It's a wonderful story. I hope I've done it justice.

CNAC Forever!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The execution of this book can only be described as lovely. Crouch has the capacity to use words to paint pictures, and create a setting that transports the reader to 1930's China. As praiseworthy as the craft of this book is, though, it is not the central achievement of the book.

Nor, I think, is the fact that Crouch makes history come alive because of the skill with which he tells the story of the men who created CNAC and made CNAC into a living thing that sustained a nation.

Rather, what he has done is to tell the story so clearly, so honestly, so faithfully that, without ever saying so, he illustrates what I can only call the human spirit. He obeys the dictum of show don't tell and, with his prose illustrated the fact that ordinary men, in extraordinary circumstances, can if they choose, become extraordinary people. There are not very many history books that, in the end, are inspirational, and China's Wings is.

[Andrea Luhman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I applaud Crouch’s book, this is the kind of gem we get when an author has spent time researching their topic, but edited their manuscript without mercy. To pull off a non-fiction book that reads like a fiction novel is stunning and not easily done. This is not something I would typically say, but filmmakers should pursue this book.
China’s Wings follows the real life events of an American aviation executive William Langhorne Bond. Crouch’s protagonist demonstrates how some of the best characters remain in the realm of non-fiction, stories of real people who did remarkable things.
Thank you Gregory Crouch for pointing out (repeatedly), the isolationist policy the US held going into WWII. Way to kick pacifist idiots in the head by discussing the inhumane acts our nation could have potentially hindered or stopped if the US had stepped up earlier. Even if to only marginally cut off supplies and petroleum.
While I don’t discredit the value works exploring the mentality of the Third Reich, I find it irritating there is not an equal amassing of exploratory literature covering the mentality of a nation of people (Japan) who celebrated the mass killing of civilians during their invasion of China. China’s Wings does such an effective job of illustrating the destruction Japan wrought against China in WWII. Crouch made me cringe and ponder the deviation of an entire culture/continent/country of people. How did they wittingly and collectively throw their moral compasses away, because there was no trickery or veiled propaganda about the civilian death toll in China? Any of the battles, destroyed citied and provinces affected could be extrapolated on. But Crouch delivers the necessary details to capture the horror of war and war crimes without loosing readers who might not enjoy long expositions about battles and tragic civilian death.
This is a must read for anyone who missed checking “China” as one of the United States allies during WWII on a high school history exam. Aviation buff’s, and military history fans should add this to their read list for sure. Those interested in the tactics that evolved America’s strategic airlift capability will enjoy this book. Incidents portrayed in this book provide clear examples of why modern civilized nations conduct military operations with formal rules of engagement.
Crouch has a knack for describing both environment and action. We are given enough detail to understand the difficult circumstances particular aircraft faced, but not so much to bore us into oblivion. All the details given are useful and help heighten the drama the pilots faced in unusual circumstances told in the book. And to all of my squeamish friends this is a book that involves a challenged airline during WWII-a war. Don’t yell at me later if you read this book not understanding what kind of graphic content is usually associated with war.

[Gregory Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent historical reference, a book that is now the subject of a televised (BEN) Boeing Education Network presentation and several book clubs.

A must read for aviation scholars and industry professionals.

[Sallie Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

In my opinion, this work of non-fiction should be more well-known. It covers the early years of aviation history in China, of all places. There was a guy named William Langhorne Bond who went to find adventure and a better job in 1931. He was a thirty seven year old former heavy construction foreman who traveled halfway around the world to take a job he knew next to nothing about. At the time aviation was the newest technology around and he desperately wanted to be part of the newest craze. He was working for Curtis Wright, the biggest aviation company in America in 1929. After the famous stock market crash, Curtis Wright’s fortunes really went south. One of their biggest cash wounds was in China where they had sunk nearly half a million dollars, a 45 per cent stake in the China National Aviation Corporation. (The book is copyrighted 2012 and the author states the value of said investment was equivalent to nearly $14 million in “today’s” value.) The man who sent William Bond to save the day chose him because he had business acumen, common sense AND good manners. The new man would need to treat his Chinese partners as equals and with respect. William Bond fit the bill. And that’s just chapter one!

What a pleasant, enlightening, entertaining and educational read.
There was adventure and bravery and romance. Also a good look at what was happening politically and economically in the 1930’s through the 1940’s in China, including the Japanese invasion of China beginning in 1937 and then China’s role in WWII.

I am not familiar with most of the history I learned from this book. Needless to say, I never heard of William Langhorne Bond prior to reading this book. He is an unsung hero of the 20th century.

The ATY Goodreads Challenge - 2024
Prompt #29- a book related to air

[Andres Cordoba · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spectacular book, written superbly and following (primarily at least) the journey of William Langhore Bond. Gripping in the general adventure of CNAC and its pilots, the book takes all the necessary steps to explain its connection to the complex historical and political situations of the time period in brief and useful summaries. With a great amount of humor, gripping stories and more the book caught my attention. At first, it seemed a little too Bond-focused to me, but the quality historical writing quickly makes up for sometimes unnecessarily long context supplying breaks, and any dislike for Bond is quickly turned into friendliness in learning the amazing journeys' of CNAC and their pilots. Well-made and making me itch for more, I am happy to recommend it to all. As Crouch says in the epilogue, "For the vast majority of the people who worked for [CNAC], it was the experience of a lifetime," which Crouch adds in a footnote he is now a part of. With a read of this work, you too will no doubt feel a bit of "getting what you wanted" from this glowing, raw and powerful account of CNAC under Bond and with China in this 'Golden Age of Flight'.

[Cheryl Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner from Gregory Crouch. It is always a pleasure to read a true story in which the main character - Mr. Bond - exhibits determination and consistancy in a cause they feel is just (opening up China as a democracy). The level of expertise developed by him, Pan Am Staff, with the Chinese people in CNAC in operating during the political upheaval in China is simply amazing. This is a book about politics, as much as it is a book about China, its people, and how to run an airline. It is a book about taking some big chances and banking your whole career on it. The colorful stories about the pilots were a joy to read. I felt I had been transported to the time and places in which it was set. And - oh boy - the chapters about flying "The Hump" to Burma and India were incredible. I am married to a pilot, and to think of him going off into such conditions, gives me the willies!

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of interesting, but not enough to finish past Part I.

[Ibu Alvarado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting

Gregory Crouch's China's Wings is educational and interesting to the point that it is hard to put down. Enjoyable and a good read.

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crouch's China's Wings takes us on a roller coaster of an adventure. The book gains steam amidst the 1920s explosion of the airline industry. William Langhorne Bond, Crouch's protagonist, serendipitously jumps from a construction job to the airline industry in 1929, moments before the October 29, 1929 market crash provided the first spark that would, two years later, lead to a run on banks and ultimately to the Great Depression.

Around the globe, the Chinese Nationalist Party slaughtered its way to power in 1928. Facing provincial warlords, the enmity of the Communists they had slaughtered, denigrating foreign treaties with Britain and the United States entered in the face of threats from Japan and Russia, belligerent Japanese, and an atrocious transportation network leaving a fractured country, the Nationalist Party formed China's first airline in 1929 in partnership with Bond's employer, Curtiss-Wright. The Chinese National Aviation Corporation was born - and in a way, so was Bond.

Heading to China in 1931 as the Vice President in Charge of Operations for CNAC, Bond's charge was to salvage as much of Curtiss-Wright's half-million dollar investment in CNAC as possible. Taking us through Bond's 18 years of civilian service with CNAC, Crouch's words transport us time and time again into other worldly environments - the cockpit of a low flying plane banking through a river gorge to allude Japanese fighter pilots, the sometimes deadly maze of Chinese politics, the ecstasy of a pilot seduced in flight by a lovely young maiden, the heartbreak of witnessing wounded children abandoned by nurses as bombing sirens screamed and squadrons approached, the will to live that provides the courage for a man with a broken leg to rescue himself from atop a snowy peak in the Himalayas, the list goes on.

Crouch weaves the tale of Bond's success, as he expertly swam the treacherous waters of Chinese politics and, against all odds, built an airline that helped saved China in more ways than one. A tale of bravery, devotion to one's country, job, and family, war, famine, love and lust, Crouch's first historical novel is not one to be missed.

[Murdo Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

To a casual observer, China’s Wings might appear to have appeal only to those interested in the history of aviation in China. The book is that and much more. In that regard, its subtitle, “War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of Flight” is far from false advertising. China’s Wings will appeal to myriad readers looking for an exciting and well told story.

Full of wonderful real-life characters, the book chronicles the history of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) in the early days of commercial aviation. Foremost among these personalities is William Langhorne Bond who arrives in China in 1931 to turn around a flagging airline. With the outbreak of World War 2, Bond finds himself a major participant in the struggle to maintain airline operations in the face of Japanese attacks at great personal sacrifice. There are many other wonderfully drawn studies of pilots, American and Chinese, key historical airline executives, as well as a cast of international political and military leaders.

Gregory Crouch, an extremely talented writer, explains the story the CNAC in the setting of the global events of the time in a thoroughly engaging manner. Simply put, one of the best books I have read in quite some time and highly recommended.

Murdo Morrison

[Karol · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the granddaughter of a World War II Hump pilot, China's Wings was a fascinating read. I grew up admiring my grandfather's adventures, flying men and cargo over the Himalayas from India to China during the war. Gregory Crouch brings these stories of risk and bravery to life, along with the full history of the commercial airline that managed the airlift. China National Aviation Corporation, a joint venture between Pan American and the Chinese government, proved more efficient and competent at flying over the treacherous mountains in monsoons and snowstorms and dense fog than the Army Air Corps. The visionary behind CNAC was William Langhorne Bond, a Virginian who escaped the Great Depression by shepherding the airline into a profitable business for Pan Am through the turbulent, war-torn 30s and 40s in China, while Japanese soldiers and bombers attacked relentlessly. Bond endured a dozen years in China, mostly separated from his wife and two sons, to keep the airline on a steady course through the war, as he was singularly suited to diplomatically work with Chinese government and business officials. This book will remind you of the "Aviator," but it will also illuminate a little known part of history leading up to Pearl Harbor and the action in the China-Burma-India theater. A compelling story that has finally been told.

[Terence Honikman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg Crouch spent more than 5 years researching and writing this book, and the results reflect that enormous effort. It is an excellent history of China for anyone interested in the period leading up to and during WWII, and an outstanding history of the amazing role played by a small Chinese airline in the affairs of the world. I use the word outstanding partly because the incredible depth of detail initially made me feel that it must be an historical novel. The author assured me, however, that he was not aware of any non-factual details in the book, and after exploring some of the resources on which he relied, I am confident of his veracity. The rest of the reason for the use of the word outstanding is that despite the amazing depth of detail, Mr. Crouch tells the story in a way that makes it a page turner - I could not put the book down. It is a compelling tale of both individual's and national strategies, tied together with impressive journalist's skill. A must-read for both aviation and WWII buffs.

[Melina Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look at the collision between Americans and ... other colonial powers, especially the British...during the fraught period leading up to WWII in China. Seeing Americans' ability to just choose not to participate in the outrageous racism of the time is refreshing: apparently we've always had a side that valued hard work kindness loyalty and vision regardless of nationality.

Historical Shangai comes off as a great sexy dangerous scary city...I kind of want to go but I'll leave my little ones at home you know what I mean? I was amused in SKYFALL to see the modern Shanghai fully reflecting the world recreated by Crouch in "China's Wings."

What is great about this book is that all these actual people jump off the page as if it were fiction: this is historical writing at its best.

If you ever get a chance to go to a book signing GO ... the odds are high you will find yourself sitting next to one of the pilots from the book ... or his child or grandchild.

Lovely lovely work.

[Vic Lauterbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is grand adventure in the best sense - it really happened. It reads like Terry and the Pirates come to life making the comedy and tragedy more poignant. The strongest parts are the first and last quarters of the book. The first chronicles the early years when William Langhorne Bond kept the Chinese National Aviation Corporation going almost by sheer force of will alone. The last describes the sad denouement as Western influence over China faded and Bond realized his dream for the CNAC was over, betrayed by greedy Nationalists and coveted by the Communists. I was left wondering how Bond, who died in 1985, would feel about China today, seeing the skyscrapers of Shanghai and the private jets of Chinese billionaires, a glittering facade that hides the same brutal, autocratic mindset he hated in the 1930's, yet all built by the patience and diligence of the ordinary Chinese people that he loved.

[Amy Sillars · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I were half the writer of Mr. Crouch, I would have the perfect words to convey my admiration of this stunningly well researched book. Mr. Crouch's ability to understand and communicate the interaction of pre-post WWII China and a civilian airline blazing new trails in Chinese aviation is nothing short of remarkable, but his ability to tell the tale of the characters in the story and the nuances of cultural psychology and norms was simply brilliant. His adoration of the subject matter and the men whose tale he was entrusted to tell is obvious. The book moved quickly and the stories and characters so engaging that it was one of those books I didn't want to end. This is a must read for anyone. (I might even read it again!)

[Christine Negroni · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the author wasn't a well-known writer with an established reputation writing for National Geographic and Outside, I might have concluded that Gregory Crouch made up the stories he tells in this book. But there are photos of the most incredible story, a damaged DC-3 sporting a replacement wing from the smaller DC-2. A slap-dash repair that made the plane flyable and so it was flown, with passengers onboard! There is the first-person testimony of the now ninety-year-old veterans of China's fledgling airline partnership with Pan Am. The pre-World War 2 rise of China's commercial air industry had to happen the way Crouch describes them becausethe stories in this book are just too incredible to make up. China's Wings is a fascinating book, a history book that reads like a thriller.

[Art Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly masterful work by Gregory Crouch on his book: China's Wings. Gregory's fascinating writing style and in-depth research totally captivated my attention from cover to cover. As an Air Force cadet long ago, we learned about aviation history, WWII in China and flying "The Hump;" and now, reading China's Wings has actually brought that period of time totally alive!

As a result of this wonderful reading experience, I have been very positively motivated to dig into more and more research about the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), WWII in China and the development of airlines in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. Gregory's book is so good, that I'm re-reading China's Wings.

[William Clarkson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child of the WWII years I am always intrigued with stories about airplanes, This is a great story about the partnership of Pan American Airways and the Chinese government in building a domestic airline. -and it's true. A Well paced narrative with characters reminiscent of Terry and the Pirates and the Flying Tigers. In fact they were former Flying Tigers. China Wings is also a historical insight to the true motives of Generalissimo Chang Kai-Shek and the Chinese Nationalist Party in leveraging American interests to their own goals. I opened this book at around 2 in the afternoon for a quick look and finished reading in the early morning hours.

William Clarkson April 6, 2013

[Glen Watanabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

China's Wings: War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of FlightHad the pleasure of enjoying the Authors (Gregory Crouch) insight into the book over the course of 3 on-line WebEx 'classes' via Boeing Ed Wells Book club!!!! And also, Mr. Crouch provided many, many links/leads to read/learn more about this most exciting era in the history of flight

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, well-written and impeccably researched profile of a little-known (to me) part of military and aviation history, the development of the Chinese Air Industry and its efforts to aid China and the West during World War II. All under the capable leadership of William Bond and dozens of brave pilots, this book reads like a thrilling film (think Unbroken with perhaps the absence of a POW camp) that is begging to be green-lit by some studio.

[J.E. Pendleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional book, it is exceptionally researched, exceptionally written, and about an exceptional subject. Mr. Crouch has written a book of history that reads like the best novel, it is hard to put down once you begin reading.

Set during a time in history that is not well known, it tells an exciting tale of American and Chinese cooperation and determination in the face of an aggressive invader.

I heartily recommend this book to the serious student of history as well as the casual reader looking for armchair adventure. Neither will be disappointed.

[Bob J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute proof that truth is stranger than fiction. Takes us through the 1930s and 1940s conflict in China, and with Japan, with the creation of a Chinesse airline as the background. Offers great insight into politics in China at the time, not just an airline story. To paraphase the author's last sentence, many things might have happened, these things did. Wonderful for both history and airplane readers.

A five star rating limits how important the story is.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic historical record of the CNAC, an arm of Pan-Am, the airline that supported China and the Flying Tigers in the run-up to WWII.

The book was escpecially effective in conveying the excitement and daring of the age. It makes me feel decidedly sad and tame, makes you want to do great deeds. These guys had courage and integrity, and it's easy to think of them as the greatest generation.

Thanks, Steve, for the recommendation

[Paul Skaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well written I found myself sucked in, shocked, thrilled, tense and compelled to follow the story to its conclusion only to find that like all history it continues and touches my modern life. Kudos to Crouch for his painstakingly detailed effort and delightfully rich phrasing. I expect Hollywood will make this into something to rival the Indiana Jones fiction...only CNAC is all real!

[Eric Bleimeister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just starting reading this engaging book about a time nearly forgotten. It was terrific-- one of the best I've read. Pan Am airlines involvement in a little known part of WW II and the descriptions of daily life in pre-war china was truly a very interesting, intriguing and romantic (looking back anyway) part of the 20th century.

[Sue Painter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite nonfiction book of 2012. Crouch is a model writer, satisfying both academic and general audiences. Young adults through seniors will find the book interesting-- the stories are compelling and the writing is vivid.

[June Creson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorites from Gregory Crouch. He also wrote Enduring Patagonia and is working (I hope) on a new historical book.

[Sue Ann Painter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! Excellent research and writing. Amazing true story.

[Michael Overstreet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on a lesser known part of aviation history in China. The book is highly detailed and I enjoyed it thoroughly.