B-29 Superfortress: Giant Bomber of World War Two and Korea

by Graham M. Simons

“A well written history of a history-changing aircraft,” the bomber that carried the two atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII (Aeromilitaria). The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engined heavy bomber flown primarily by the United States in World War Two and the Korean War. The name “Superfortress” was derived from that of its well-known predecessor, the B–17 Flying Fortress. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, trainers and tankers including the variant, B-50 Superfortress. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War Two. A very advanced bomber for its time, it included features such as pressurized cabins, an electronic fire-control system and remote-controlled machine-gun turrets. Though it was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, in practice it actually flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. It was the primary aircraft in the American firebombing campaign against Japan in the final months of World War Two. Unlike many other World War Two-era bombers, the B-29 remained in service long after the war ended, with a few even being employed as flying television transmitters. The type was finally retired in the early 1960s, with 3,960 aircraft in all built. Without doubt there is a clear, strong requirement to “put the record straight” using primary source documentation to record the undoubted achievements alongside and in context with the shortcomings to the type’s design and operation that have otherwise received scant attention. The book covers all variants and is profusely illustrated.

Genres: History

514 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this one, but the saying about books and covers rings especially true here.

I won’t deny that the author has a passion for aviation.

What he lacks is an ability to write a decent book. This could have been caught by his publishers, but they even failed in the most astounding ways when it came to proof reading and editing.

Historical inaccuracies abound, which are all readily dispelled by any serious historian dealing with the time period. For example, the author makes a comment about Stalin being terrified of entering into a war with Japan, and then shortly afterwards talks about how the Soviets threw themselves into the Pacific war when the Bomb was dropped. I’d recommend the author read Max Hastings’ work Nemesis and rewrite that entire section.

One chapter read a little strange to me with regard to in flight refuelling. The style of writing was quite different from the rest of the text, and as it described a system that was not easy to visualise, I decided to do a little search online. I found the entire chapter as the first hit. Penned by a different individual a decade before this book was written. Word for word. Lifted straight without shame from someone else’s website.

On the subject of images, the photographic collection is impressive, but relatively often the image bares little to do with the text it is embedded with, or depicts something mentioned several pages before or after. Again, something the publishers should have picked up on. More than a few photos show evidence of having been blown up and left in a poor resolution. Photos show development aircraft with unusual attachments and modifications, with nothing in the text describing them.

The best sections of the book are when the author lets the original crews talk about the B-29 and their missions in their own words. The description of the atomic attacks is chilling and worthy of note.

Overall I was very disappointed with this purchase. I have seen the author has published several other aircraft reviews but unless I see them in a charity shop, there is no way I can ever bring myself to pay anywhere near RRP on this author again in future.

My personal advice? Look in the bibliography in this book, and buy those listed there instead.

[John Tarttelin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never read a book that has so many errors! This volume has dozens of spelling mistakes; it misses out full stops; it replaces commas with full stops; the pagination is poor; and the typos are legion. It was a real drag just trying to finish the volume as the zillions of errors were a total distraction. I noted at least 88 mistakes. It seems to have been proof-read by a chimpanzee on speed. It is far more amateur in production qualities than many a teenage Kindle novel. It is also as dry and dense as stale treacle - a real labour to read. Just one word sums up this excuse for a book - gross!

[Achileas Labrou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like when books about aviation have many technical details but are understandable to the common man. This book is one of them.