WHIRLWIND The Air War Against Japan, 1942-1945

Barrett Tillman attempts to bring the entire WWII Allied air war against Japan into a single, coherent whole, and boy does he succeed. The book is written like a historical novel—it traces the strategic decision-making that led to the Allied victory without neglecting the human aspects of the conflict. Narrator Mel Foster is up to the task. He inserts a level of tension into the text that both enhances and humanizes it. What was it like, for example, to sit in a cramped, bubble-like gun turret and spot the enemy above and below? Walking a fine line between passion and restraint, Foster delivers the words of those who did just that and more. It’s a complex performance. It works. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2010]