Philip Rowe

At The Klaxon's Call: What If We Actually Went to War in 1960's, by Philip Rowe, is a follow up to his excellent book on the Convair B-58 Hustler bomber of the Strategic Air Command. Here we follow what might have been, if the unimaginable had taken place. In the story, the United States and Russia participate in a short nuclear war, and we follow a B-58 crew making their way to targets in the Soviet Union.

I won’t spoil the story by going into further details, but I found parts of it to show more be a bit unbelievable. I fully appreciate the professionalism of the men and women who served in the Strategic Air Command, but I think there is some missing emotional aspects of the story that having been left out, make the air crew appear to be unbelievable inhuman.

There is also the issue of how people in other the parts of the world that the bomber crew interacts with seem to be unconcerned that a major exchange of nuclear weapons has just taken place in the northern hemisphere—something that would at the very least seriously affect them, if not outright spell their doom.

That being said, the story is interesting and would appeal to anyone interested in the Cold War, or aircraft in general. One other thing; it appears as though spell-checking had been stopped at the half-way point in the novel. The second half contains a very large number of mis-spelled/placed words that would have been obvious at a quick glance. Perhaps the wrong copy of the manuscript was sent to the printers, but that is a distraction right when the story is into its climax. show less

B-58 Remembrances by Philip Rowe takes us on an intimate date with the United States Air Force’s fastest strategic bomber. The B-58 Hustler was the Indy car of bombers—incredibly fast and surprisingly manoeuvrable, but these qualities were not enough to ensure its survival in an age where shooting down aircraft had become a science.

Rowe takes us along on the day to day life of the Hustler’s flight crew, from the tedium of standing alert, to the missions themselves. The reader will show more learn what it was like to be part of the Strategic Air Command, the USAF’s long range bombing organization. They will also learn some of the idiosyncrasies of what was—and still is—the fastest bomber in history.

Anyone with even a passing interest in aviation will want to read this book. You will probably want to acquire a copy of At The Klaxon’s Call, also by Rowe. I am well into that book now and can already recommend it.

www.daniellittle.com show less

B-52 Days Remembered, by Philip Rowe, is a historic look at the life of a BUFF crewmember during the Cold War. Written in a storytelling manner, you are taken through the adventures (and misadventures) of the author during the early life of the B-52 Stratofortress in the early 1950’s and for the military historian, this book is a gold mine of information.

Rowe doesn’t pull any punches in his description of life in those formalative days of the Strategic Air Command, the huge, sometimes show more unwieldy force that worked hard to protect us from the unthinkable. This book is about the author’s experiences as a B-52 crewmember in the 92nd Bomb Wing out of Fairchild AFB in Washington State. His position as the aircraft’s EWO (Electronic Warfare Operator), seated directly behind the flight crew gave him a unique perspective of his surroundings, and making him part of whatever went on during the long hours in the air.

Made up of short anecdotes, B-52 Days Remembered is a collection of stories giving the reader a peek into what went on during those early days of the Cold War when the world seemed intent on destroying itself.

The book may have benefitted from more editing, but not enough that it takes away from the information within the pages. Available in eBook form through Amazon, this book is a bargain for the aviation fan or military historian.

Copyright 2012 Daniel L Little www.daniellittle.com show less