Philip Kaplan

It is 1978 and David Weiseman, an American diplomat, is caught up in the intrigue and manipulations of the last days of the Shah of Iran, the struggle among competing forces as to who will next rule the country, and the race to free the American hostages, as well as safeguard those who have been of assistance to him.

Although I am not a particular fan of “spy” novels, I really enjoyed this book but don’t see it as a “thriller”. It read more like an historical account of the fall of show more the shah, rise of Khomeni, and the taking of American hostages. I’m not sure how much was fact and how much fiction, but I felt I learned a lot about this situation.

Although there were many names to keep track of, the story was tightly woven and engrossing. The author is an experienced diplomat, and his knowledge of Iran and the word of espionage is evident.

It is said that we should learn from history and I felt there were a lot of lessons for our times in this novel….as well as warnings….beware the ascent of religious zealots and authoritarians. In the author’s notes, he mentions the importance of “decent moderates of civil society to survive and safeguard American interests”. While he applies this to the mideast, it is oh so important for our country as well. show less

Certainly, most aviation historians would agree that the P–51 Mustang played a pivotal role in the Allied victory in the European Theater during World War II. Kaplan’s title clearly sets the focus to tell the story of the North American Aviation P–51 Mustang.
A prolific military-history author, Kaplan begins his story of the P–51 by relating the story of Ed Schmued, the man credited with designing the Mustang. While the P–51 proved to be the linchpin of the U.S. quest to destroy show more the German Luftwaffe, it actually began as a British desire for an aircraft with better performance than the Spitfire and Hurricane. While testing the P–51, the Army Air Forces initially showed very little interest, choosing to focus on the P–38, P–40, and P–47. Originally equipped with an Allison V-1710 engine, the Mustang didn’t initially prove itself to be the stalwart performer that would dominate the war-torn skies over Europe. It wasn’t until April 1942 that Rolls-Royce test pilot Ronnie Harker, upon flying the Mustang, recommended it be re-engined with a Rolls-Royce Merlin. Once equipped with the Merlin, the P–51 transformed into a dominant force.
What follows after the initial discussion of the development and early fielding of the P–51 is a collection of there-I-was stories. The book appears to ramble on without any direction or purpose other than to relate individual stories of American Mustang pilots and ground crew. The stories appear to have no purpose or correlation to the author’s implied theme that the P–51 turned the tide in World War II.
If the lack of focus on a central theme weren’t alarming enough, the book’s ending is. The book abruptly ends in the middle of a less-than-memorable story: “But we went through the ditch and to a farmhouse where the colonel left me in charge of a farmer, his wife and their teenage daughter.” There is no summary, conclusion, post-script, epilogue, or any form of text to reaffirm the author’s point or even bother to tell the reader the story is done. The text ends on the last line of the page; the author simply ran out of space. Books are traditionally printed on large sheets of paper (flats) that fit a total of sixteen pages. As a result, publishers work to finish a book at the end of a flat. A quick page counts confirms that this is the case with Mustang. The publisher ran out pages to print the book on; therefore, the book is done! Editing the content would certainly have helped.
While the book does have a photo section, it does very little to enhance the story. A prime example is that the only cockpit photo is that of a Focke-Wulf Fw190 rather than the focus of the book, the P–51. The remaining photos are a combination of hero shots and stock photos of the P–51 and other aircraft.
Sadly, this is not an inspirational work. After the initial discussion of the P–51’s development, the book dissolves into a disjointed collection of stories garnered from other books. Forays into the F–82 Twin Mustang, the history of the Tuskegee airman (who did fly the P–51), the Korean War, and post-war warbird use fail to explain how the P–51 was “the plane that turned the tide of World War Two.” In the end, the book fails to deliver. The discussion of the Mustang’s development and British fielding are interesting but cannot overcome the poor organization and apparently non-edited text. Beyond readers who want to read a collection of firsthand combat experiences, this book has no appeal; it fails to take off.

This review was originally published in the Airpower History Quarterly, (Winter 2013) show less

An account, largely in their own words, of what these men (and their successors who flew in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf and elsewhere) experienced: flying five to six miles above the earth, deep into enemy territory, and then returning to a short interlude of comparative normality at 'home' before contemplating the next briefing, the next mission. Unlike many other combatants, they had little control over their own fate - there are no foxholes in which to take cover in the sky, 99 of the show more projectiles fired at their aircraft might burst in harmless puffs of smoke, the hundredth might tear a wing off or riddle their body with shrapnel. show less

I may be a bit harsh here but this is such a Quilt Of A(n) (Audio)Book. Grey Wolves, ineptly and quite undeservedly subtitled The U-Boot War 1939-1945 is a mongrel work built of disparate parts; the only thing cohesive about it is maybe its glue and spine, if you are reading the book which I’m not.
That is how irrelevant a rather large part of the writer’s work is to the title and proposed subject matter of the book.