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    Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team
    Unavailable
    Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team
    Unavailable
    Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team
    Audiobook4 hours

    Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team

    Written by John Steinbeck

    Narrated by Scott Aiello

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A magnificent volume of short novels and an essential World War II report from one of America's great twentieth-century writers

    On the heels of the enormous success of his masterwork The Grapes of Wrath and at the height of the American war effort John Steinbeck, one of the most prolific and influential literary figures of his generation, wrote Bombs Away, a nonfiction account of his experiences with U.S. Army Air Force bomber crews during World War II. Now, for the first time since its original publication in 1942, Penguin Classics presents this exclusive edition of Steinbeck's introduction to the then-nascent U.S. Army Air Force and its bomber crew--the essential core unit behind American air power that Steinbeck described as "the greatest team in the world."

    For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 5, 2016
    ISBN9780698406346
    Unavailable
    Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team
    Author

    John Steinbeck

    John Steinbeck (Salinas, 1902 - Nueva York, 1968). Narrador y dramaturgo estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Stanford, pero desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar duramente como albañil, jornalero rural, agrimensor o empleado de tienda. En la década de 1930 describió la pobreza que acompañó a la Depresión económica y tuvo su primer reconocimiento crítico con la novela Tortilla Flat, en 1935. Sus novelas se sitúan dentro de la corriente naturalista o del realismo social americano. Su estilo, heredero del naturalismo y próximo al periodismo, se sustenta sin embargo en una gran carga de emotividad en los argumentos y en el simbolismo presente en las situaciones y personajes que crea, como ocurre en sus obras mayores: De ratones y hombres (1937), Las uvas de la ira (1939) y Al este del Edén (1952). Obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1962.

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    Reviews for Bombs Away

    3.5/5

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    • 2/5
      Steinbeck wrote this in 1942 for the US Government. It was intended to encourage young men to sign to up fly bombers in the war. Sometimes cited as propaganda, it could also be seen as a patriotic gesture by a famous American who during a national crisis wished to do his part using the wonderful skill he possessed, writing. Steinbeck traveled with a bomber training unit carefully recording the many lessons the men went through to learn their trade on a B-17 or B-24 bomber. He wrote a chapter on each crew position: navigator, crew engineer, pilot, bombardier, radio engineer, aerial gunner. He also wrote chapters on the B-17 and its role in warfare plus a chapter on how the bomber crew must work as a team. There are also included, many photographs of training scenes.This is not a very exciting read compared to some volumes that chronicle actual bombing operations but he does tell the story of one crew's experience of flying over the Caribbean heading to a practice bombing target when they see a submarine. Checking to make sure it is not an Allied vessel, they proceed to attack it and sink it. Not sure how true this episode is, but it makes a good story. Considering how early in the war he wrote this, some of predictions for the future of air warfare and the post war importance of flying Steinbeck made were very accurate.
    • 4/5
      Written for the U.S. Army Air Corps in the early days of World War II, Bombs Away gives readers insight into the training of individual members of a heavy bomber (B-17 and B-24) crews and their molding into a functioning team. Throughout the book, Steinbeck emphasizes that, although the pilot may be the most visible person on the crew, each member had a vital job to perform. Of course, the pilot, navigator and bombardier were all commissioned officers, the rest of the crew NCOs – an important distinction in any hierarchical organization. Those of higher rank were ostensibly treated better as prisoners of war, something the author never alludes to. That’s why there were no privates on a bomb crew.Steinbeck mentions more than once that the Army Air Corps took “the cream of the crop” from among Army enlistees – following extensive testing; he emphasized that, although one could apply as a pilot, the determination of which job a man was to be trained for was decided by those tests. I found the section on the training programs for various jobs – pilot, gunner, radio engineer, etc. – fascinating. I didn’t know that bombardiers alone were entrusted with the top-secret Norden bombsight – they took it from the safe in which it was stored when not in use and installed it into the plane, then removed it and returned it to the safe when a run was done. It is little details like that that make Bombs Away so interesting and revealing. Bombs Away is a quick read and invaluable for anyone who wants to understand the air war in Europe during World War II. But I had to constantly remind myself that this was very much a piece of propaganda and to be read as such.