"Last Samurai" and Bradley's book "Flyboys"

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 01:41:03 GMT, "Maule Driver"
wrote:

If memory serves me, Bradley attempts to explain the change between those 2
wars. It's a good book.

Okay, I'm going to look for it at BJ's, and if it's not there, I'll
order it up from Amazon.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Cub Driver wrote:

So you can't blame it on the
samurai. Something really twisted happened to the Japanese army and
navy between 1905 and 1931.

Absolutely. And the book delves into this in some detail. The author calls the
result a "spirit warrior", rather than a samurai.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

Maule Driver wrote:

But I can recommend a related book, James Bradley's "Flyboys" "A true story of
courage".

I thought it was great except for two glaring errors. In one sentence he talks
about the tendency of the big radials to "stall without warning" and in another
he talks about the WWII carrier decks being very dangerous places with whirling
props,..., jet fuel,... Jet fuel? In 1943?

Those errors make me wonder about some of the other facts he presents. The book
does contain an excellent bibliography, however, so I don't think he's made
anything up, and I hope to find time to check out some of his references.

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".