Fortress Ploesti: The Campaign to Destroy Hitler's Oil

Rating:
Summary: Fortress Ploesti - WW II Air War Revisited
Review: A well researched account and easy read of one of the most effective bombing campaigns of WW II. The author places the reader in each combat crew position involved in the raids, starting with the well documented August 1, 1943 low level raid and then picking up the less recognized high level raids that ran from April 5, 1944 until August 1944 when the Soviet Army took over. Stout covers the action from all the angles, that of the B-24 crews, the Romanian, Bulgarian, and German fighter pilots and indivduals on the ground.

This a must read for WW II buffs, especially for those air crew members of the past and for todays "fly boys" that have a need to understand their heritage. Jay Stout has covered the complete Ploesti Story. I strongly recommend Fortress Ploesti.

Rating:
Summary: The Entire Ploesti Campaign, Told Well!
Review: Having read the advance review copy, I am pleased to record my impressions of this title.

First, let me say that there is a deluge of WWII books coming out these days. Unfortunately, most rehash often-told stories of the war. Fortress Ploesti is not that kind of book. It breaks new ground entirely, and that fact alone makes it a worthwhile addition to the literature on the subject.

The author, himself a combat pilot veteran (Iraq) has long been fascinated with the massive and well-known single bombing expedition of August 1943 against Ploesti. This book, however, includes that mission but also covers in depth all those missions that followed in 1944, a massive strategic campaign of more than twenty missions that had a significant (and yet ironically overlooked) effect on the course of the war.

The author's style is very conversational--easy to read, enjoyable, entertaining, and very enlightening. Included are interviews and recollections of the pilots who participated, including Third Reich pilots, which provides an entirely new perspective on this phase of the war. Stout's experience as a fighter pilot helps describe what these men recalled and experienced. There are also two galleries of photographs, many previously unpublished, but they were not included in my copy of the advance galley.

If you enjoy World War II books in general, and aviation books in particular, you should add this book to your library. You will not be disappointed. Highly recommended.