What do you think?
Rate this book
Wings of Gold: The U.S. Naval Air Campaign in World War II
From critically acclaimed military historian Gerald Astor comes Wings of Gold , the first account of how the airplane transformed the U.S. Navy and paved the way to victory in the Pacific in World War II. Astor tracks that fateful journey from its humble beginnings in 1910 when Eugene Ely flew the very first plane off the deck of a U.S. Navy ship to the unprecedented air combat missions that helped defeat the Japanese.
Few naval aviators in World War II realized that when they earned their wings of gold they were about to become test pilots for a whole new kind of combat. In their own words, these courageous fliers describe the life-and-death air battles that defined the revolution in naval strategy that rose from the ashes of Pearl Harbor, when fighter pilots watched in horror as Japanese carrier-launched aircraft bombed their planes and airfields into smoking rubble.
While following the pilots’ firsthand reports of air strikes and blazing dogfights across the islands and atolls of the Pacific, Astor explores the ways the U.S. Navy began its momentous transformation before the war. Later, the critical role of aircraft carriers in the stunning U.S. victory at Midway sounded the death knell for conventional naval warfare, yet the public, the press, the Army, and even the president’s advisors refused to recognize the new reality. In fact, only a few in the Navy understood that a new era had begun that would change the face of war forever.
The young Americans who fought the deadly duels against Imperial Japanese forces high over the Pacific gave everything they had to the war effort, and many made the supreme sacrifice. Wings of Gold pays tribute to their courage, daring, and selfless dedication. Vividly told, thoroughly researched, and filled with stirring accounts of the Pacific War’s greatest air battles, Wings of Gold is an important addition to the annals of World War II aerial combat.
Few naval aviators in World War II realized that when they earned their wings of gold they were about to become test pilots for a whole new kind of combat. In their own words, these courageous fliers describe the life-and-death air battles that defined the revolution in naval strategy that rose from the ashes of Pearl Harbor, when fighter pilots watched in horror as Japanese carrier-launched aircraft bombed their planes and airfields into smoking rubble.
While following the pilots’ firsthand reports of air strikes and blazing dogfights across the islands and atolls of the Pacific, Astor explores the ways the U.S. Navy began its momentous transformation before the war. Later, the critical role of aircraft carriers in the stunning U.S. victory at Midway sounded the death knell for conventional naval warfare, yet the public, the press, the Army, and even the president’s advisors refused to recognize the new reality. In fact, only a few in the Navy understood that a new era had begun that would change the face of war forever.
The young Americans who fought the deadly duels against Imperial Japanese forces high over the Pacific gave everything they had to the war effort, and many made the supreme sacrifice. Wings of Gold pays tribute to their courage, daring, and selfless dedication. Vividly told, thoroughly researched, and filled with stirring accounts of the Pacific War’s greatest air battles, Wings of Gold is an important addition to the annals of World War II aerial combat.
464 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 2004
10 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Gerald Astor
37 books15 followersGerald Morton Astor, a native of New Haven, grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. After his Army service in the Second World War, he received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton. He was the picture editor of Sports Illustrated in its early years and worked as an editor for Sport magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and Time.
Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.
He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.
Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”
Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.
He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.
Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 3, 2021
When the author quoted stories from the men who fought in the war, then it was exciting reading. Otherwise, it was too static. Also, rather poor editing.
November 18, 2021
Please do not waste your time
November 1, 2014
I am finished with this one, but I will not finish reading it. One of the poorest pieces of writing I have encountered on WW2. Astor, in an effort to keep the book focused on the first person experience of each of the pilots he features. In doing so he fails to include the details that bring a first person narrative alive. Very little context is included on pivotal engagements at Midway and Guadalcanal, the desperate situation the US was in, not the overwhelming odds these pilots faced against superior Japanese pilots and airframes.
Related to the airframe superiority of the Japanese, American pilots had to come up with a way to combat superior planes and did so with a tactical maneuver known at the Thach Weave, so named by its inventor. Astor notes the importance of the Weave but completely omits a thorough description of how it works, only mentioning that Thach came up with it at home using props. For a work which strives to focus on first person details, understanding what these pilots sought to do to stay alive and down enemy planes is crucial, and lacking from this book.
And I'm not even mentioning small details that Astor misses and an editor should catch. Move on and read something else. There are far better works out there that are worth your time.
Related to the airframe superiority of the Japanese, American pilots had to come up with a way to combat superior planes and did so with a tactical maneuver known at the Thach Weave, so named by its inventor. Astor notes the importance of the Weave but completely omits a thorough description of how it works, only mentioning that Thach came up with it at home using props. For a work which strives to focus on first person details, understanding what these pilots sought to do to stay alive and down enemy planes is crucial, and lacking from this book.
And I'm not even mentioning small details that Astor misses and an editor should catch. Move on and read something else. There are far better works out there that are worth your time.
November 28, 2015
Not good at all. I'm not up to Midway, and he's repeated confused the SBD and SB2C dive bombers, as well as misspelled the former as "SPD" twice. Once again, an editor would have helped here. I say that a lot about histories anymore.
It seems to be a collection of oral histories, with bits of text to connect them. I'm already suspicious of the accuracy of some of these bits, given the above.
I gave up early in the Midway chapters. This "critically acclaimed military historian" screwed up too many things, one that was horribly obvious. The IJNS Yamato is world-famous for being the largest battleship ever built, with the largest guns ever mounted. How could he write the wrong caliber, and not have an editor catch it?
It's not worth my time to read a cut-and-paste job slapped together without editing. I can read many of these oral histories in other places, this contributes nothing new at all.
It seems to be a collection of oral histories, with bits of text to connect them. I'm already suspicious of the accuracy of some of these bits, given the above.
I gave up early in the Midway chapters. This "critically acclaimed military historian" screwed up too many things, one that was horribly obvious. The IJNS Yamato is world-famous for being the largest battleship ever built, with the largest guns ever mounted. How could he write the wrong caliber, and not have an editor catch it?
It's not worth my time to read a cut-and-paste job slapped together without editing. I can read many of these oral histories in other places, this contributes nothing new at all.
November 11, 2011
This is a good history of U.S. naval aviation in World War II. Aside from brief descriptions of naval air cover for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa and escort carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic, most of the book covers the carrier war in the Pacific. I especially liked the discussion of tactics like the Thatch (spelling?) Weave that was designed to take advantage of the strengths of the 4F4 fighter and compensate for its weaknesses against the Zero. The author is pretty candid is his assessments of various admirals like McCain & Halsey. I recommend this book.
February 18, 2012
this book is a high spot history of navy aviation mostly in the Paciifc during world war II. There are lots of short first hand accounts by pilots of various actions. The effort put into rescuing downed pilots is described. A few inaccuracies in this first edition I'm reading, in putting Hellcat fighters at Midway.
August 2, 2016
A very good history
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews