WORLD WAR II: AIR WAR: AMERICAN HERITAGE SERIES (audiobook) by Stephen W. Sears

Published by Highbridge in February of 2017
Read by Paul Boehmer
Duration: 2 hours, 47 minutes
Unabridged

Four P-51 Mustangs in formation over Britain.

Stephen W. Sears used to write for the magazine American Heritage and in that capacity more than 50 years ago he wrote a short and simple history of the air war over Europe in World War II. It was designed to be an introductory read for high school students. I am not sure if this audio edition is the same book, but it is serves the same purpose.

If you are a casual student of World War II, the kind of person that watches an occasional documentary from the time to time, this is the perfect book. There are details, but not enough to drown the reader. Sears moves the story along at a brisk pace, but still slows down enough to tell a personal story to remind the reader that this was a real story full of real people. He is more likely to tell the story of the average airman than of the generals.

Sears discusses the air war over Britain before the United States was drawn into the war but once America is drawn into the war he mostly focuses on American pilots and strategies and how the Germans countered them. He also talks about what happened to airmen who were shot down over enemy territory.

The only problem that I have with this audiobook is the narrator, Paul Boehmer. His style took a lot of getting used to. His frequent odd pauses in sentences are distracting (I would call them Shatner-esque). I am not a fan.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: World War II: Air War.