FLYBOYS A True Story of Courage

Atrocity has always been a part of war, but after WWII the details of the horrors of the Japanese POW camps remained rumors for years. FLYBOYS shares the story of eight American pilots captured by the Japanese in the waning days of the war. Even George H.W. Bush, the young pilot who escaped capture, didn't know the story until his presidency. James Bradley succeeds at recreating the lives of the men on both sides of the war. He reads his material gracefully, making the soldiers sympathetic, but tends to tease the listener a bit too much by hinting of the pilots' grisly fate. While its message of forgiveness is well stated, this book doesn't spare the details of the horror of cannibalism, which some listeners will want to avoid. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]