Clay BlairRecensioni

Great book. My ebook edition ran to 2276 pages. It is NOT the paperback edition.

This memoir is pretty long at just over 400 pages, and is extremely detailed, so you may not be super interested if you aren't really into experimental research flight, aviation, or the X-15.

To put this book into context, it wraps up in early 1960. That's about a year before Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space, and consequently a year before the Mercury program starts its first piloted flights. Dwight Eisenhower is still president. North American thinks the B-70 won't be cancelled. NASA has only been NASA for just about two years. (And the author, Scott Crossfield, is still ~65 years away from killing himself by failing to flying out of a thunderstorm.)

So it's still really early in the space business. In some ways things are both prescient and also naive. Aerodynamic space vehicles are being explored, even though they ultimately won't be used to travel to space until the STS program kicks off in 1977, and then will be virtually abandoned again after the program ends in 2011. Lots of aerospace firms are alive and kicking with buckets of defense or NASA funding before merging or shutting down in the 80s and 90s after the cold war ends and the federal government decides not to give NASA money for cool projects anymore. There is a little discussion about the nascent (at the time) conflict between piloted flight and autonomous missiles.

In that context, the book is pretty fascinating. Where did one of the top test pilots and engineers see the future of aviation and space research? It also highlights years that are often not covered that much in many other books about space, who usually just gloss over the 1950s to get right to the Mercury program.

That said, the book was REALLY LONG and started out REALLY SLOW. I felt like it took 100 pages for me to feel good and interested. I've been zipping through books lately, and this one took me quite a while to get through. So it's not amazing, but it was solidly good.

If you've read The Right Stuff and you kind of want to know more, especially about the aviators who didn't become astronauts, this book is for you.

One more note. This book was written in 1960. This means that every pilot, engineer, and human worth writing about (according to this book) is a man. (Except for the exceptional single "lady engineer.") The author uses exclusively male pronouns. The author annoyingly says "space man" instead of astronaut. I found it to be grating, jarring, and obnoxious. I know the book is a product of its time, but I wish people could have been a little less awfully sexist a little earlier in our history.

Of the many battles that made up the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic was arguably the most important of them. It was through the clash between German U-boats and Allied convoys that the question was resolved of whether Nazi Germany could defeat Great Britain by strangling her trade and cut off the Allies from access to the vast resources of the United States. Had the Germans triumphed, there would have been no Lend-Lease convoys to Great Britain and Russia and no Allied invasion of continental Europe. Victory might still have come for the Allies in Europe, but it would only have been after a much longer and far more debilitating struggle.

The prominence of the naval war in the Atlantic has ensured that there is no shortage of books available about it. Yet Clay Blair’s two-volume study of the Kriegsmarine’s U-boat campaign ranks among the best of them, for a number of reasons. Foremost among them is the depth of research Blair undertook, as he drew upon the massive amount of both German and Allied archival material to reconstruct the conflict. He also benefited from the revelations about the role Allied codebreaking from the 1970s onward, which was a critically important aspect of the battle excluded from earlier accounts of it. Blair employs all of this with a firsthand understanding of submarine warfare drawn from his experience in the United States Navy during the war, which gives him a perspective too-often missing from other histories.

Blair uses these elements to construct a remarkable account of the fighting. After a prologue describing the rebuilding of Germany’s submarine arm in the interwar period, Blair covers the various campaigns waged by the U-boats during the war. This he does systematically, summarizing the various deployments of each U-boat and their success (or lack thereof) in attacking and sinking Allied shipping. In this process he creates a sense of a naval battle that unfolded much like a ground campaign, with both sides engaging in moves and responding in turn with countermoves in a fluid and ongoing contest for dominance. Blair also places all of this within the context of the larger war underway, showing how leaders on both sides viewed the campaigns in the Atlantic, and how the decisions they made influenced events within it.

Using this approach, Blair challenges many longstanding misconceptions about the war. Foremost among them is the view of that the German campaign ever seriously jeopardized the Allied war effort Throughout the book Blair repeatedly stresses the limited scope of the campaign, with the small number of U-boats facing an enormous task. Even at their peak, the U-boats were nowhere close to cutting off the British, nor were they able to sink Allied shipping faster than the Allies (through confiscation and construction) were able to replace it. Thus, while ships were torpedoed and men died, it was more of a nuisance than a true threat to the Allied military machine, leaving Blair to question Winston Churchill’s pessimism about the U-boat “peril.”

Another one that Blair tackles head-on is the claim that American naval leaders did not take seriously the U-boat attacks on the East Coast during the first half of 1942. Here he stakes himself out as a stout defender of Ernest King, the controversial head of the U.S. Navy during the war. Blair points out that as commander of U.S. naval forces in the Atlantic prior to Pearl Harbor King was already employing the convoy system and was well aware of his benefits. What inhibited him from doing so with coastal shipping once Karl Donitz launched Operation Drumbeat was not any skepticism about the efficacy of convoys but a lack of escorts with which to defend them. As American shipyards rose to the challenge, King implemented them, which went a long way towards ending the second “Happy Time” of U-boat successes.

Blair makes his arguments through a combination of clearheaded analysis and the weight of his evidence. This can make his text a little repetitive at times, yet the sheer amount of detail had its own fascination. It helps that Blair is a skilled writer able to apply his years as a journalist to make his case through clear and unadorned prose. It’s for these reasons that his book, along with its successor volume, Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945, remain the definitive work on the Battle of the Atlantic, one that is unlikely to be bettered thanks to a perspective borne of the author’s combination of assiduous archival labor with his personal experience with commerce warfare during the Second World War.

Excellent book that's a must-have for anyone with a serious interest in the U-boat war, naval history or WWII really.

However I have to say that from a British perspective the author's more and more strident pro-US, pro-Canadian and anti-British text became more and more grating over this second 700-pages of the 2-part book. He may be correct in his analysis, who am I to say, but it seemed that 2/3rds of the North Atlantic alliance were always right and the other third continually erroneous, even when doing the same thing (the RAF v. USAAF bomber campaigns being perhaps the most egregious example, although "horrendous" losses of personnel in US ships seems somehow less worthy of comment when it was the Royal Navy on the receiving end, which jarred somewhat).

However, the scholarship, depth of research and the sheer volume of well presented facts means that one must overlook the author's peccadillos and revere the holistic achievement.

Of its type, superb. The detail, not least in the appendices, is astonishing and the story around the information presented is pretty well told.

A must to have on the bookshelf of any naval or WWII historian.

That said he's obviously a King fan!

I just finished A General’s Life, a good biography and told from the 1st person perspective.

While informative, I enjoyed A Soldier’s Story more on his Word War 2 career and Jim DeFelice’s Bradley biography more for a cradle to grave biography.

I definitely endorse reading his autobiography coauthored by Clay Blair and believe that the General Omar Bradley’s view on his service in World War II and his service as both Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff is clearly and honestly portrayed as he saw it.
This book develops his feelings to serving with for or with George Marshall, Ike, Patton and Montgomery and the development of his relationship with all and the dynamics of these relationships.½

Heroes great life detailed. History lovers should read this book.

Enjoyed the first half of it more than the second half, which was kind of a slog and a lot more details about the X-15 than I was really interested in. I read this on a Kindle and the conversion was VERY sloppy - lots of typos like I's that should be 1's and weird punctuation.

As a child, Scott Crossfield secretly learned to fly. Told he would never be physically strong enough to fly, due to serious bouts of pneumonia and rheumatic fever, he found he could not let go of the dream of flight and ultimately earned for himself a place as a renowned and dedicated test pilot for the X-1 and Skyrocket rocket planes.

Told with candor, this is the story of a man dedicated to flight, the man who was the first to fly at twice the speed of sound. It is also the story of the X-15, the rocket plane that flew its brave and daring pilots into journeys into the unknown.

Told in Scott Crossfield’s own words, this account of a life of flight reveals a pilot who had faith in the future of man in space, a pilot who believed that the experimental plane had a place in that quest. In these pages, readers will meet the legendary pilot who flew a miracle and set man on his path toward the stars.

Highly recommended.

General's Life, A: An Autobiography, by Bradley, Omar N. And Clay Blair

published in 1975, it was the first such account to detail controversial aspects of the American campaign, from the torpedo scandal to discrepancies between claimed and confirmed sinkings.
To get to the truth, Clay Blair interviewed scores of skippers, staff officers, and code breakers, and combed thousands of documents and personal papers. In addition, he thoroughly researched the development of the submarine and torpedo from pre-war to post-war times. As a result, he takes the reader into the submarine war at all levels--the highest strategy sessions in Washington, the terrifying moments in subs at the bottom of the ocean waiting out exploding depth charges, the zany efforts of a crew coaxing a chicken to lay an egg. He also exposes the reader to the jealous infighting of admirals vying for power and the problems between cautious older skippers and daring young commanders. Supplementing the text are nearly forty maps showing submarine activity in the context of every important naval engagement in the Pacific, more than thirty pages of photographs, multiple appendixes (including a calendar of submarine war patrols), and an index of over 2,000 entries.

I'm sure that real navy and submarine buffs will have a ball reading it with all the details it presents to the reader. And as such I can only recommend it wholehearted.

But for me it is simply too much and too far from my 'home turf'; Army and combat aviation related stuff.

John Keegan o prvním svazku tohoto uceleného příběhu o operacích německých U-bootů během 2. světové války napsal, že je to "obdivuhodné dílo z námořních dějin". Nyní přichází druhý svazek, jenž popisuje události od roku 1942 do roku 1945, kdy se štěstěna k německému válečnému námořnictvu obrátila definitivně zády a ono utrpělo možná největší porážku ze všech složek německých ozbrojených sil.

Hitlerova ponorková válka, jejíž sepsání zabralo devět let, je předurčena tomu, aby se stala úplným popisem německé ponorkové války proti Spojencům, Bitvy o Atlantik.

Během námořního střetu mezi Spojenými státy a Japonskem v Pacifiku v letech 1941 až 1945 se odehrála málo známá válka ve válce: americká ponorková ofenzíva proti japonské námořní dopravě a válečnému námořnictvu. Hrstka námořníků sloužících na ponorkách, s poměrně malým počtem podmořských člunů, provedla celkem asi 1600 bojových hlídkových plaveb a potopila více než 1000 japonských obchodních lodí a podstatnou část japonského válečného námořnictva.

Clay Blair writes in a easily readable narrative. While there have been many past biographies about MacArthur, I found this one, published in the mid-70's, fairly relaxing to read. Some others are written like research papers and you feel like you have grind thru them just to complete reading. One facet of this book that I found very interesting was MacArthur's reign and influence over post-WWII Japan. I have been on the lookout for a decent summary book covering this period and this book did a decent job.

My first exposure to a more critical and realistic portrayal of this war. A dress rehearsal for Vietnam. Exposes the poor quality of the U.S. Military and civilian leaders, from Truman down to the drunken regimental commanders.

A tremendous read. The authors tracked interviewed all the surviving POW's from a tragic sinking at the hands of the submarine force. Had the Allies been made aware of the cargo, thru a neutral nation as the Japanese did do in other events, the convoy would have sailed safely. The hardships suffered thru just to get to the shipboard event were staggering, to then be left in the ocean for up to 6 days without food or water defies belief. The determination and raw courage displayed by these Brits and Aussies is amazing. The crews of the US subs were tireless in their efforts to recover and then care for the survivors. In the most extreme case, the sub was carrying over twice the number of people for which it was designed. The sailors gave their bunks, clothes, went on reduced rations and even gave their money (until there was no more than pocket change on board). A worthwhile read that is horrible and uplifting at the same time.

This is the first part on U-Boats of World War II by Clay Blair. [b:Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942-1945|118679|Hitler's U-Boat War The Hunted, 1942-1945 (Modern Library War)|Clay Blair Jr.|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171756263s/118679.jpg|114254] is the second part where the "hunters" became the "hunted".

If you want to read a definitive account on U-Boats, these two volumes would be it.

Unfortunately I didn't do a review immediately after reading this book as I had just joined Goodreads at that time. So now after almost a year, I don't remember the tiny but interesting points that I would have liked to share here otherwise.

But I do remember that this is an exhaustive book. Perhaps the best researched book about the U-boats.

The author is severely critical of Truman's leadership as Commander in Chief and his relationship to the military. This is a very long bookand obviously covers much of the war but there is much to add, even today.

Ever since touring U-505 at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry as a young boy, I've been fascinated by submarines. I've watched just about every movie about them and played just about every video game that features them and ridden the ride at Disneyland and still the attraction remains.

This book, although necessarily quite repetitive in it's reporting, is a dream come true for a submarine buff. I don't believe that the author missed a single submarine action in the Pacific Theater from the entire war. To me the most amazing aspect of the story is definitely the work of the code breakers. It seems that we knew what the Japanese Navy was up to before they did!

The maps are very clear (and useful) and the Appendices at the end are detailed and informative. All-in-all I don't see how a book of this type could be written any better.

The one area where I felt the book was lacking, there should be some sort of ship recognition guide along with performance characteristics for each class of ship, and a glossary of terms should be included as well.

Well organised and paced. Presents an interesting look at many of key figures of the Allied war effort. At times, it feels more like the tone of Patton than Bradley, at least as they have been portrayed popularly since the war. Good reading, highly recomended.½

2189 A General's Life: An Autobiography by General of the Army Omar N. Bradley and Clay Blair (read 26 Feb 1989) While this book is really written by Clay Blair, it is told in the first person singular and reads very well. Bradley was born Feb 12, 1893, in the house where his mother was born, three miles west of Clark, Randolph County, Missouri. When he was 12 they moved to Higbee, Mo., and when he was 14 his father died and the family moved to Moberly, Missouri. He went to West Point--class of 1915 ("the class the stars fell on"). It is just a great story. though one wonders how his troops felt when they read how anxious he was to have his troops play a leading role in the fighting. After the war he headed the VA for two years and then was Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, retiring in 1953. Thereafter he lived an interesting life (covered hurriedly in a "collaborator's afterword") till he died April 8, 1981. This has been a most interesting book and was very worthwhile.

Silent Victory
Silent Victory provides us with numerous valuable insights about the lives of submariners who helped subdue a belligerent maritime power. Interspersed with technical data and submarine tactics within the book are the travails and triumphs of the officers and men who fought the undersea war in the Pacific theatre.

Three things struck me while reading this book:

(1) Submarines are of relatively little value if their primary weapon, the torpedo, is ineffectual. Torpedoes, being self-contained and self-propelled weapons systems, must operate reliably under all conditions. Although boats that were then in use had been armed with naval guns, using such rifled weapons required submarines to operate on the surface, thereby largely negating the boats' stealth capability.

Silent Victory describes in detail how the various torpedo problems encountered by the fleet were eventually addressed. The book also paints a poignant portrait of the quandaries submariners faced due to the initial lack of torpedoes in the theatre, the highly disappointing performance of the torpedoes due to design defects, and the resulting negative impact on morale whenever a textbook approach on unsuspecting targets resulted in no sinkings.

(2) With the benefit of hindsight, Mr. Blair points out that the strategic interdiction of Japanese commerce could have dramatically abbreviated the war had the military brass thought of positioning submarines in the Luzon Strait, where numerous convoys and men-of-war transited. Copious accounts of submarines being sent to areas where warships were detected (usually through code-breaking) and then returning home empty-handed are found throughout the book; it is impossible to wade through these accounts without experiencing a sense of frustration.

(3) Clearly, the Imperial Japanese Navy was largely unprepared for the unrestricted submarine warfare imposed by the US on Japanese shipping during the war. Japanese convoys and merchant ships frequently sailed unescorted. Japanese destroyers, in their efforts to destroy US boats, were by and large hampered by ineffectual depth charges. Furthermore, Japanese submarines, which could have served as escorts to these hapless convoys, inflicted little damage on US ships.

From a strategic standpoint, submarines are 'cheap' - unlike a surface ship such as a cruiser, a submarine requires a much smaller crew to keep her in operation (even with a skeleton crew, her ability to inflict damage is relatively unimpaired); the intrinsic minimalism of submarine design meant that repairs can be promptly made while in port; and the asymmetry inherent in submarine warfare made submarines truly effective as offensive weapons during WWII.

As mentioned in other reviews, this is the most comprehensive book about submarine warfare during the Pacific War. I might add that Silent Victory is a good jump-off point for further reading about the subject. One should note, however, that Mr. Blair depended heavily on US sources for his material, although this does not diminish his efforts in any way.

(Posted in Amazon.com, October 20, 2003)