Crimson Sky: The Air Battle for Korea
Product DescriptionIn the Korean War’s unique combat environment, significant battles took place that profoundly affected the future of air warfare. Crimson Sky examines in detail twenty of the most interesting and representative aerial actions of the war. . . . More >>
Ive got a copy of this book, havent gotten into it yet, should be fascinating enough on subject matter alone, which as some other reviewers note, gets scant attention except perhaps in highly specialised-and pretty expensive- pubs like “Squadron” profile books.
You know what really made a winning 1st impression with me? The Title, I think that is a simple but masterfully emotive title. “Crimson Sky”, that really flies like the swept wings of a MiG, imo. . What does the Crimson refer to? Bloody ?? Communism? the Reddish brown and Red of the N. K. and PRC flags and insignia?
Works for me, and helps flag the book as being about something less banal. Thank God he didnt call it “MiG Alley” or some cornball variation of that!!
Rating: 4 / 5
This book is a scholarly and detailed examination of the many aspects of aviation in the Korean conflict. It was interesting and informative, but lacked emotion and any real human energy or excitment. The author appears not to be an aviator and lacks some understanding of the difficulty and complexity of air combat, therfore no real emotional connection is made. It filled in some knowledge gaps and clarified others (Dambusters navy lore is completely different, so this explaination was worth the price of the book for me). I would recommend this book for aviation history buffs, but not necessarily for those looking for aviation combat stories with gut churning reality and emotion.
Rating: 3 / 5
This book reads like a novel, although the very nature of its subject is compelling: the Korean Air War is a largely untouched subject in history. Records are difficult to get, they are sketchy or poorly sorted or. . . have been destroyed since the war.
The book is written out of these long and numerous, although mostly and long forgotten aviators’ personal archives and records, dug out from their rusty and dusty storage areas from 60 years ago and brought back to light with obvious talent by the author.
The merits I see in this book are numerous. First, the author traces the story of the air war in parallel with the story of the war itself, in a chronological fashion. It becomes very easy to follow the narrative, because it is put in context with the overall war itself. Second, all types of air operations are covered in the book: CAS & strafing, dive bombing, medium and heavy bombing, interception, air superiority, CAP, escort. . . you name it, the book has it! The specifics of these different types of operations are narrated from the standpoint of those who personally lived through them and testified afterwards. There is no cliché, no generalities, no waste of time. Third, with a rare insight into these specific air operations, the author skillfully managed to give crystal-clear depictions of these often complex operations. With dozens, or hundreds of aircraft sometimes up in the air at the same time, recalling this kind of operation requires a thorough understanding of timing, sequencing and air combat tactics. . . which very obviously this author does have. Also, last but not least, the author provides a few Communist pilot’s testimonies, a rare feature considering the difficulty of coming across these, even today. . .
In short, this book is a must-have, a vivid testimony of these unique, uncommon and long-forgotten times, when pre-WW2, propeller-driven, soviet-made PO2′s had to deal with the then top-notch F-86′s, when Skyraiders had to drop torpedoes to blow-up water dams by flying below anti-air attack nets, when MiG-17s wiped the air clean of B-29′s. . . Readers won’t escape this feeling of pity for the doomed F-84, La-9, B-29 or Corsair pilots. . . all pilots of astounding WW2 machines. . . that were up against massively superior adversaries. And still, they soldiered on despite all odds. Absolutely mesmerizing. . .
Rating: 5 / 5
I really liked how this book covers the entire air war and not just a specific few units. I have read lots on specific units but this really helped me understand what was going on overall. This is a MUST read.
Rating: 5 / 5
The author stated that he wrote “Crimson Sky” to remember Korean War aviators as the United States approached the 50th anniversary of the conflict’s beginning. Mr. Bruning has done a good job. He has interviewed veterans and put their stories into the book in a fast-paced, you-are-there style. Bruning used episodes from the war to point out important chapters in the history of military aviation. For example, Bruning’s first and second chapters are entitled “The First Jet Kills” and “The Birth of Combat SAR,” respectively. Particularly worthwhile is the author’s penultimate chapter, which deals with Soviet involvement in the Korean air war. At times, Bruning’s episodic approach causes the narrative to seem disjointed. In addition, the author could have said more about the night air war, and some mention might have been made of UN pilots who were not American. Those things are the worst things that can be said about “Crimson Sky,” however. The book is well-thought out and well written–well worth four stars.
Rating: 4 / 5