Immediately after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt sought to restore the honor of the United States with a dramatic act of vengeance: a retaliatory bombing raid on Tokyo itself. At his bidding, a squadron of eighty scarcely trained army fliers, led by the famous daredevil Jimmy Doolittle, set forth on what everyone regarded as a suicide mission. The attack was successful--until Japanese spies forced most of the squadron to crash-land in enemy-occupied China, where pilots were ferried underground across the country to safety. One plane landed in the Soviet port of Vladivostok, where the crew was eventually smuggled out of the country through Persia. Others were captured by the Japanese, confined to years of imprisonment and torture. The fact that 90 percent of the men involved came home alive was little short of a miracle.Their extraordinary success led directly to what every historian now believes was the turning point in the war against Japan and helped convince the nation and the world that the Allies might eventually triumph.
Extensively researched, including interviews with twenty of the twenty-seven remaining survivors, The First Heroes vividly recreates America's first great victory of World War II. Craig Nelson follows the Doolittle Raiders from their secret training on a Florida airfield to their tense days in transit across the Pacific to the bombing itself--and finally to their courageous accounts of survival against astonishing odds. A true account that almost defies belief, The First Heroesis a tremendous human drama of great personal courage and a powerful reminder that ordinary people, when faced with extraordinary circumstances, can rise to the challenge of history.
About the Author :
Craig Nelson is the author of three previous books. His writings have appeared in Salon, Blender, Genre, and a host of other publications. He was an editor at HarperCollins, Hyperion, and Random House for almost twenty years. He lives in New York City.
Raymond Todd is an actor and director in the theater as well as a poet and documentary filmmaker. He plays jazz trombone for the Leatherstocking quartet, an ensemble that gets its name from one of his favorite Blackstone narrations, The Deerslayer. Todd lives in New York.
Review :
"Raymond Todd's clear words, comfortable pace, and vocal inflections maintain an aura of patriotic excitement throughout the story, in which brave men and women, just doing their jobs, change the course of history."
-- "AudioFile"
"Craig Nelson has done a splendid job of making America's first victory in World War II seem so vital, so relevant, that it feels like living it."
-- "Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See and Compromising Positions"
"The story of the Doolittle Raid lifts off the page, as rich and engrossing as any legend, and Craig Nelson proceeds to bring to vivid life the dramatic story behind the story."
-- "Doug Stanton, author of In Harm's Way "
"This is a thrilling real-life saga that both informs and inspires."
-- "Booklist"
