Sign-In
Cart
Race of Aces: Wwii's Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Master of the Sky
Paperback
Air CombatArmed ForcesWorld War II
Publisher Price: $21.99
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 0316508632
ISBN13: 9780316508636
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: Jan 12 2021
Pages: 544
Weight: 1.20
Height: 1.50 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780316508636
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: Jan 12 2021
Pages: 544
Weight: 1.20
Height: 1.50 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The astonishing untold story of the WWII airmen who risked it all in the deadly race to become the greatest American fighter pilot.
In 1942, America's deadliest fighter pilot, or ace of aces -- the legendary Eddie Rickenbacker -- offered a bottle of bourbon to the first U.S. fighter pilot to break his record of twenty-six enemy planes shot down. Seizing on the challenge to motivate his men, General George Kenney promoted what they would come to call the race of aces as a way of boosting the spirits of his war-weary command.
In 1942, America's deadliest fighter pilot, or ace of aces -- the legendary Eddie Rickenbacker -- offered a bottle of bourbon to the first U.S. fighter pilot to break his record of twenty-six enemy planes shot down. Seizing on the challenge to motivate his men, General George Kenney promoted what they would come to call the race of aces as a way of boosting the spirits of his war-weary command.
What developed was a wild three-year sprint for fame and glory, and the chance to be called America's greatest fighter pilot. The story has never been told until now.
Based on new research and full of revelations, John Bruning's brilliant, original book tells the story of how five American pilots contended for personal glory in the Pacific while leading Kenney's resurgent air force against the most formidable enemy America ever faced.
The pilots -- Richard Bong, Tommy McGuire, Neel Kearby, Charles MacDonald and Gerald Johnson -- riveted the nation as they contended for Rickenbacker's crown. As their scores mounted, they transformed themselves from farm boys and aspiring dentists into artists of the modern dogfight.
But as the race reached its climax, some of the pilots began to see how the spotlight warped their sense of duty. They emerged as leaders, beloved by their men as they chose selfless devotion over national accolades.
Teeming with action all across the vast Pacific theater, Race of Aces is a fascinating exploration of the boundary between honorable duty, personal glory, and the complex landscape of the human heart.
Brings you into the cockpit of the lethal, fast-paced world of fighter pilots . . . Fascinating. -- Sara VladicExtraordinary . . . a must-read. -- US Navy Captain Dan PedersenA heart-pounding narrative of the courage, sacrifice, and tragedy of America's elite fighter pilots. -- James M. ScottVivid and gripping . . . Confirms Bruning's status as the premier war historian of the air. -- Saul David
Based on new research and full of revelations, John Bruning's brilliant, original book tells the story of how five American pilots contended for personal glory in the Pacific while leading Kenney's resurgent air force against the most formidable enemy America ever faced.
The pilots -- Richard Bong, Tommy McGuire, Neel Kearby, Charles MacDonald and Gerald Johnson -- riveted the nation as they contended for Rickenbacker's crown. As their scores mounted, they transformed themselves from farm boys and aspiring dentists into artists of the modern dogfight.
But as the race reached its climax, some of the pilots began to see how the spotlight warped their sense of duty. They emerged as leaders, beloved by their men as they chose selfless devotion over national accolades.
Teeming with action all across the vast Pacific theater, Race of Aces is a fascinating exploration of the boundary between honorable duty, personal glory, and the complex landscape of the human heart.
Brings you into the cockpit of the lethal, fast-paced world of fighter pilots . . . Fascinating. -- Sara VladicExtraordinary . . . a must-read. -- US Navy Captain Dan PedersenA heart-pounding narrative of the courage, sacrifice, and tragedy of America's elite fighter pilots. -- James M. ScottVivid and gripping . . . Confirms Bruning's status as the premier war historian of the air. -- Saul David
Also in
World War II
Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
Graham, Elyse
Hardcover
$27.00
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
$31.50
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Larson, Erik
Paperback
From $11.99
The Survivor: How I Made It Through Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter
Lewkowicz, Josef
Hardcover
$28.49
A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II
Monaghan, Shannon
Hardcover
$28.80
The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II
Freeman, Gregory A.
Paperback
$20.90
Shot Down: The true story of pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth
Snyder, Steve
Paperback
$18.95
Mr. Churchill in the White House: The Untold Story of a Prime Minister and Two Presidents
Schmuhl, Robert
Hardcover
From $22.99
The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice
Parkin, Simon
Hardcover
$27.00
The Traitor of Arnhem: The Untold Story of Wwii's Greatest Betrayal and the Moment That Changed History Forever
Verkaik, Robert
Hardcover
$33.25
Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America
Jacobsen, Annie
Paperback
$23.74
Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World
Alexander, Caroline
Hardcover
$30.40
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
Mundy, Liza
Paperback
From $10.99
Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
Miller, Donald L.
Paperback
$21.85
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Ambrose, Stephen E.
Paperback
$18.99
The Strategists: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Mussolini, and Hitler--How War Made Them and How They Made War
O'Brien, Phillips Payson
Hardcover
$33.25
The Fifteen: Murder, Retribution, and the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWs in America
Geroux, William
Hardcover
$29.70
The Invisible Spy: Churchill's Rockefeller Center Spy Ring and America's First Secret Agent of World War II
Maier, Thomas
Hardcover
$31.34
The Paris Girl: The Young Woman Who Outwitted the Nazis and Became a WWII Hero
White, Francelle Bradford
Hardcover
$26.60
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
Browning, Christopher R.
Paperback
$18.99
The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America's Elite Alpine Warriors
Isserman, Maurice
Paperback
$18.04
The Last Boy in Auschwitz: A WW2 Jewish Holocaust Survival True Story
Bomberg, Moshe (Mjetek)
Hardcover
$17.99
Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis' Fortress Prison
MacIntyre, Ben
Paperback
$17.10
Facing the Mountain: An Inspiring Story of Japanese American Patriots in World War II
Brown, Daniel James
Paperback
From $10.99
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Hardcover
$28.49
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Larson, Erik
Hardcover
From $11.99
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
Makos, Adam
Alexander, Larry
Hardcover
$29.45
Hitler's Table Talk: The Complete Edition 1941-1944
Bormann, Martin
Heim, Heinrich
Picker, Henry
Hardcover
$44.95
Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America
Jacobsen, Annie
Hardcover
$49.00
The World War 2 Trivia Book: Interesting Stories and Random Facts from the Second World War
O'Neill, Bill
Walker, Dwayne
Paperback
$11.39
The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon
Kershaw, Alex
Paperback
$18.99
81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness
Murphy, Brian
Paperback
$18.04
Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel
Seuss
Minear, Richard H.
Paperback
$23.74
Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II
Aikman, Becky
Hardcover
$30.39
The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
Meltzer, Brad
Mensch, Josh
Paperback
$9.49
Forged in Hell: The Gripping True Story of the Special Forces Heroes Who Broke the Nazi Stranglehold
Lewis, Damien
Hardcover
$26.60
The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie Ten Boom
Loftis, Larry
Paperback
$20.89
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
Alexander, Larry
Makos, Adam
Paperback
$20.90
Awakening the Spirit of America: Fdr's War of Words with Charles Lindbergh--And the Battle to Save Democracy
Sparrow, Paul M.
Hardcover
$28.45
The Fate of the Generals: Macarthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines
Horn, Jonathan
Hardcover
$29.44
Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II
Kershaw, Alex
Paperback
From $11.99
A Wing and a Prayer: The Bloody 100th Bomb Group of the Us Eighth Air Force in Action Over Europe in World War II
Crosby, Harry H.
Paperback
$21.84
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
Hornfischer, James D.
Paperback
$23.75
Fifty-Three Days on Starvation Island: The World War II Battle That Saved Marine Corps Aviation
Bruning, John R.
Hardcover
From $19.99
Grandma's Wartime Kitchen: World War II and the Way We Cooked
Hayes, Joanne Lamb
Anderson, Jean
Paperback
$24.95
Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
Kurson, Robert
Paperback
From $9.99
Half American: The Heroic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad
Delmont, Matthew F.
Paperback
$18.05
Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers
Frederick, Jared
Dorr, Erik
Paperback
$18.99
Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever
Lance, Rachel
Hardcover
$30.40
Taking Midway: Naval Warfare, Secret Codes, and the Battle That Turned the Tide of World War II
Dugard, Martin
Hardcover
$30.40
Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II
Andrews, Lena S.
Paperback
From $10.99
The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
Meltzer, Brad
Mensch, Josh
Paperback
From $10.99
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue (Large Print Edition)
Purnell, Sonia
Paperback
$35.15
The Tuskegee Airmen: An Illustrated History: 1939-1949 with a Comprehensive Chronology of Missions and Events
Haulman, Daniel
Caver, Joseph D.
Ennels, Jerome
Hardcover
$26.55
The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
Kiernan, Denise
Paperback
$18.99
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Ambrose, Stephen E.
Hardcover
$30.40
The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945, Revised Edition
Allen, William Sheridan
Paperback
$29.95
Masters of the Air Mti: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
Miller, Donald L.
Paperback
$21.85
The General and the Genius: Groves and Oppenheimer - The Unlikely Partnership That Built the Atom Bomb
Kunetka, James
Paperback
From $10.99
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II
Keene, Anne R.
Paperback
From $11.99
Zionism During the Holocaust: The weaponisation of memory in the service of state and nation
Greenstein, Tony
Hardcover
$35.99
The Liberation Line: The Untold Story of How American Engineering and Ingenuity Won World War II
Wolmar, Christian
Hardcover
$32.30
Aces at Kursk: The Battle for Aerial Supremacy on the Eastern Front, 1943
Lawrence, Christopher A.
Hardcover
$40.80
The Mighty Moo: The USS Cowpens and Her Epic World War II Journey from Jinx Ship to the Navy's First Carrier Into Tokyo Bay
Canestaro, Nathan
Hardcover
$33.25
Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General
O'Reilly, Bill
Dugard, Martin
Paperback
$19.00
The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War
Katz, Catherine Grace
Paperback
$23.74
America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War (Large Print Edition)
Brands, H. W.
Paperback
$35.15
D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II
Rose, Sarah
Paperback
From $9.99
Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure
Kladstrup, Petie
Kladstrup, Donald
Paperback
From $9.99
The Sailing of the Intrepid: The Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy's Iconic Aircraft Carrier
Williams, Montel
Hardcover
$28.50
Graphic War Navy: The Secret Naval Drawings and Illustrations of World War II
Nijboer, Donald
Hardcover
$47.45
Phantom Fleet: The Hunt for Nazi Submarine U-505 and World War II's Most Daring Heist
Rose, Alexander
Hardcover
$28.50
The Bulge and Beyond: The Things Our Fathers Saw-The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation-Volume VI
Rozell, Matthew
Hardcover
$34.99
The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
Baime, A. J.
Paperback
$23.74
Japan's Infamous Unit 731: First-Hand Accounts of Japan's Wartime Human Experimentation Program
Gold, Hal
Paperback
$12.34
Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man
Vladic, Sara
Vincent, Lynn
Paperback
From $9.99
Seducing and Killing Nazis: Hannie, Truus and Freddie: Dutch Resistance Heroines of WWII Volume 1
Poldermans, Sophie
Paperback
$27.08
The Ghost Army of World War II: How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery (Updated E
Sayles, Elizabeth
Beyer, Rick
Hardcover
$42.75
The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis
Letts, Elizabeth
Paperback
From $9.99
Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History
O'Reilly, Bill
Dugard, Martin
Hardcover
$35.15
Nothing But Courage: The 82nd Airborne's Daring D-Day Mission--And Their Heroic Charge Across the La Fière Bridge
Donovan, James
Hardcover
$33.25
Operation Underworld: How the Mafia and U.S. Government Teamed Up to Win World War II
Black, Matthew
Hardcover
$26.60
The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won
Hanson, Victor Davis
Paperback
$21.84
No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII
Weintraub, Robert
Paperback
From $8.99