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Doolittle's Men: A Novel of the Air Raid on Tokyo
January, 1942. With Pearl Harbor still smoldering, President Roosevelt seeks to give America hope that all is not lost. The resulting mission called for renowned aviator, Jimmy Doolittle, to lead eighty men in sixteen army bombers off the deck of the carrier, USS Hornet. They would bomb targets in Japan, proceed to allied bases in China, and give America that hope. Almost nothing would go as planned.
In this novelization of the Doolittle raid, we follow three of those sixteen crews as they struggle off the storm-tossed flight deck of the Hornet, attack their targets, and escape against all odds to the Chinese mainland where their most harrowing experiences await.
Doolittle's Men is more than an edge-of-your-seat telling of an iconic war story. It is also an analysis of the human qualities required of those facing unimaginable challenges.
RECOGNITION FOR DOOLITTLE'S
Gold Medal -- 2023 Military Writers Society of America Book Awards
Gold Medallion Recipient, 2023 -- Indie B.R.A.G.
Honorable Mention & Five-star Medallion recipient -- 2023 Readers Favorite Book Awards
Independent Authors Network, 2023 Book of the Year Awards;
Finalist-(Debut Novel);
Finalist-(Inspirational/Spiritual)
Clive Cussler Adventure Writing, 2023 Grandmaster Award Semi-finalist
In this novelization of the Doolittle raid, we follow three of those sixteen crews as they struggle off the storm-tossed flight deck of the Hornet, attack their targets, and escape against all odds to the Chinese mainland where their most harrowing experiences await.
Doolittle's Men is more than an edge-of-your-seat telling of an iconic war story. It is also an analysis of the human qualities required of those facing unimaginable challenges.
RECOGNITION FOR DOOLITTLE'S
Gold Medal -- 2023 Military Writers Society of America Book Awards
Gold Medallion Recipient, 2023 -- Indie B.R.A.G.
Honorable Mention & Five-star Medallion recipient -- 2023 Readers Favorite Book Awards
Independent Authors Network, 2023 Book of the Year Awards;
Finalist-(Debut Novel);
Finalist-(Inspirational/Spiritual)
Clive Cussler Adventure Writing, 2023 Grandmaster Award Semi-finalist
351 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 24, 2023
Excellent account of the Doolittle raid on Tokyo focusing on three crews and their different experiences. A delight to read an work of historical fiction that is so accurate. I particulary appreciated the fact that (unlike other books I've seen on this topic) the characters were human beings rather than two-dimensional superheroes. The author's depiction of China in this era is also evocative. Although an exciting book, this is much more than an "adventure story," and it while it will be enjoyed most by those with an interest in WWII and aviation, it has greater depth than most in that genre.
February 16, 2023
A great-looking book with an even better story inside. If you think historical fiction is dry, you haven't read this book. I liked the story and felt like I knew the characters by the end. This is a real page-turner. I highly recommend it to everyone.
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April 26, 2023MWSA Review
Author Paul D. Burgess makes the drama, bravery, and bravado of the men of the April 1942 Doolittle Raid on Tokyo relatable to everyone.
In Doolittle’s Men, the author focuses on three of sixteen Army aircrews under Doolittle’s command. They knew they would not have enough fuel to return to the USS Hornet as they flew into the unknown, but volunteered for the mission, nonetheless. The author takes us aboard their planes as we follow them through their harrowing takeoff from the carrier, their bombing raid on Tokyo, problems with the airplanes, and the aftermath once they landed at an Allied airbase in China, crashed, or parachuted to land.
Burgess relates the assistance offered by Chinese villagers and missionaries who aided the airmen, offering them whatever medical care they could, providing shelter and food, and leading them through the countryside to safety as Japanese forces relentlessly took China under its control, mile by mile.
The Chinese risked their lives to help, and they were severely punished for it. The women were raped, most of the Chinese who aided the airmen were killed, their livestock was slaughtered, and their villages burned to the ground. The author, sometimes in disturbing detail, depicts the depravities the Japanese conquerors forced on the Chinese population as well as on one captured aircrew.
The pace of the book is riveting. The end of each chapter forces the reader to turn the page. The emotions are genuine. The characters are well-drawn, and the dialog is realistic, ensuring the reader understands the closeness of each five-man crew. Each crew created bonds only those who were there at that time could ever share or fully appreciate.
This book brings the Tokyo raid to life. For those unacquainted with World War II, it provides the context for why Doolittle’s raid was so important during the first year of America’s involvement in the war. It takes the dry facts of history and breathes life into them, as we accompany these men, many of them quite young, on a mission that was a surprise attack on Japanese soil.
We owe these airmen, the Chinese villagers, and the missionaries in China a debt of gratitude for delivering a wake-up call to Japan—a call that made them realize they were not invincible. And Japan’s response to that call revealed the kind of enemy the Allies faced.
Doolittle’s Men is a book worth reading. Though written as a novel, the airmen in the book were real people, living real lives, in an extraordinary time. Their names are in history books. Their fates are in history books, too. Burgess brings them to life for us.
Review by Pat Walkow (February 2023)
Author Paul D. Burgess makes the drama, bravery, and bravado of the men of the April 1942 Doolittle Raid on Tokyo relatable to everyone.
In Doolittle’s Men, the author focuses on three of sixteen Army aircrews under Doolittle’s command. They knew they would not have enough fuel to return to the USS Hornet as they flew into the unknown, but volunteered for the mission, nonetheless. The author takes us aboard their planes as we follow them through their harrowing takeoff from the carrier, their bombing raid on Tokyo, problems with the airplanes, and the aftermath once they landed at an Allied airbase in China, crashed, or parachuted to land.
Burgess relates the assistance offered by Chinese villagers and missionaries who aided the airmen, offering them whatever medical care they could, providing shelter and food, and leading them through the countryside to safety as Japanese forces relentlessly took China under its control, mile by mile.
The Chinese risked their lives to help, and they were severely punished for it. The women were raped, most of the Chinese who aided the airmen were killed, their livestock was slaughtered, and their villages burned to the ground. The author, sometimes in disturbing detail, depicts the depravities the Japanese conquerors forced on the Chinese population as well as on one captured aircrew.
The pace of the book is riveting. The end of each chapter forces the reader to turn the page. The emotions are genuine. The characters are well-drawn, and the dialog is realistic, ensuring the reader understands the closeness of each five-man crew. Each crew created bonds only those who were there at that time could ever share or fully appreciate.
This book brings the Tokyo raid to life. For those unacquainted with World War II, it provides the context for why Doolittle’s raid was so important during the first year of America’s involvement in the war. It takes the dry facts of history and breathes life into them, as we accompany these men, many of them quite young, on a mission that was a surprise attack on Japanese soil.
We owe these airmen, the Chinese villagers, and the missionaries in China a debt of gratitude for delivering a wake-up call to Japan—a call that made them realize they were not invincible. And Japan’s response to that call revealed the kind of enemy the Allies faced.
Doolittle’s Men is a book worth reading. Though written as a novel, the airmen in the book were real people, living real lives, in an extraordinary time. Their names are in history books. Their fates are in history books, too. Burgess brings them to life for us.
Review by Pat Walkow (February 2023)
April 7, 2023
We are proud to announce that DOOLITTLE'S MEN: a Novel of the Air Raid on Tokyo by Paul D. Burgess has been honored with the B.R.A.G.Medallion (Book Readers Appreciation Group). It now joins the very select award-winning, reader-recommended books at indieBRAG.
December 1, 2022
Gen.dolittle
I had the homer of working with the general during his time with mutual of omaha. What an amazing man. I treasure the time.
I had the homer of working with the general during his time with mutual of omaha. What an amazing man. I treasure the time.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews