Rating: 
Summary: UNDERSTANDING HOW TH 8th A. F. WORKS
Review: A must read before anything else to under stand how the air force operated,the back ground infomation the personal, bases, men, equipment, the stories I had read with unfamilar terms and such all came into a clear light of understanding after reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good book and great read!
Review: Astor has done an incredible job with this book. His sources are sound and it's incredibly readable as well. The best part of this book is the fact that Astor uses so many incidents and details from the members of the 8th AF themselves. He really makes the reader care about the people he writes about and the entire 8th AF as a whole. Unlike other books he also brings the horror of even the air war to life. A reader vividly gets the feel that while the war on the ground was worse, the air war was no picinic either.
Rating:
Summary: Best for aviation buffs, but useful nonetheless
Review: Astor's Mighty Eighth gives a thorough account of the efforts of the US Army Air Corps' 8th Air Force in World War II. It can be at times very human, others very number-crunching. I gave this book to my A.P. US History juniors this summer, and they did not find it as informative as I would have liked. Still, for a solid account that shows how the 8th, which did not exist prior to Pearl Harbor, was assembled into the mightiest armada of planes in history, this does the job. Of the few books dedicated solely to the bombing of Europe by the 8th, this stands out due to its number of personal accounts and stories used by Astor to reinforce his points and research.
Rating:
Summary: Best for aviation buffs, but useful nonetheless
Review: Astor's Mighty Eighth gives a thorough account of the efforts of the US Army Air Corps' 8th Air Force in World War II. It can be at times very human, others very number-crunching. I gave this book to my A.P. US History juniors this summer, and they did not find it as informative as I would have liked. Still, for a solid account that shows how the 8th, which did not exist prior to Pearl Harbor, was assembled into the mightiest armada of planes in history, this does the job. Of the few books dedicated solely to the bombing of Europe by the 8th, this stands out due to its number of personal accounts and stories used by Astor to reinforce his points and research.
Rating:
Summary: I could feel the turbulence...
Review: Gerald Astor has a gift. Period.His ability to make the reader FEEL what it was like to be in a B-17, under fire, cold, and far from home...is simply amazing. I have never read an account of the air war that made me truly understand what it must have been like to actually be there. While Astor managed to stick to facts and figures. He also managed to bring to life the very experience of flying over Germany. His ability to describe and bring a story to life surpasses Ambrose...without a doubt. (and I am an enormous fan of Ambrose)
Rating:
Summary: I could feel the turbulence...
Review: Gerald Astor has a gift. Period. His ability to make the reader FEEL what it was like to be in a B-17, under fire, cold, and far from home...is simply amazing. I have never read an account of the air war that made me truly understand what it must have been like to actually be there. While Astor managed to stick to facts and figures. He also managed to bring to life the very experience of flying over Germany. His ability to describe and bring a story to life surpasses Ambrose...without a doubt. (and I am an enormous fan of Ambrose)
Rating:
Summary: A thoroughly enjoyable oral history of the Eighth Air Force!
Review: Gerald Astor has assembled many wonderful stories written by the men who are best suited to tell the story of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. This book was difficult to put down for two reasons: 1. The story it tells is extremely exciting and tragic at the same time and 2. The stories as told by the men who were there impart a quality and feeling that can be hard to find in more traditional histories. I definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A magnificent tribute in their own words
Review: Gerald Astor uses the format, in a manner applied so effectively by Stephen Ambrose, of a series of first-person narratives to tell the story of the Eighth Air Force in WW2 Europe. Out of print following its initial hardcover run, the Mighty Eighth is that rare combination of facinating personal detail, told in the words of Amercian Aviators, presented within Astor's description of the wider historical context of the daylight strategic bombing program of the 8th Air Force. For those interested in the history of military aviation, or for students of the period unfamiliar with the air war, The Mighty Eighth is interesting and very readable.
Rating:
Summary: Those Magnificent Men in the Valley of Death
Review: Having both cataloged individual Oral Histories at a University's manuscript division, and putting together a short family oral history, I can appreciate the task that Gerald Astor has taken on: the reconstruction of a military operation through oral history. The task must have been daunting because recollections can be both supporting and in conflict. The picture that Astor finally delivers is one of incredible bravery. Before 1944 the odds were against anyone completing their tour of 25 missions, primarily due to the misguided philosophy of the Army Air Corp that heavy bombers could hold their own against enemy fighter attacks. When the Air Corp finally accepted the need for long range fighter protection, the odds improved dramatically. Irreguardless of the odds, these young men went up several times a week and flew 10 plus hour missions in unpressurized aircraft. I read somewhere that fighter mission were 30 minutes of boredom and 5 minutes of terror. These bombing missions must of been a lot more than 5 minutes of terror. This history covers their prewar background, their training, their missions, and how they coped with the strain. In some cases, it covers their survival after being shot down, prison camps, escapes, and the murder of airmen. While it is unfortunate that the lasting effects of these bombing missions were very minimal (much like the charge of the 500), I cannot point to any other group of Americans in history who showed more bravery when the odds were against them. I highly recommend this book
Rating: 
Summary: "Great reading." --Stephen Ambrose, Undaunted Courage
Review: Here is what his other writers have said about Gerald Astor and The Mighty Eighth:
"No one does oral history better than Gerald Astor. Here the men of the mightiest air force ever built tell their story in their own words--of trials, tribulations, triumphs, terror, and tedium. Great reading." --Stephen Ambrose
"Bold, brawny, epic in scope, The Mighty Eighth is oral history at its very best. Astor captures the fire and passion of those tens of thousands of U.S. airmen who flew through the inferno that was the bomber war over Europe." --Stephen Coonts
"Gerald Astor has proven himself a master. Here, World War II is brought to life through the hammer blows of their airborne triumphs and fears. This book should be of interest to anyone who fought that war--or any war--in the air, and those who want to understand what combat was like for the airmen and their leaders." --J. Robert Moskin
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