Books about Airlift from Amazon.com

The masterfully told story of the unlikely men who came together to make the Berlin Airlift one of the great military and humanitarian successes of American history.

On the sixtieth anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, Andrei Cherny tells a remarkable story with profound implications for the world today. In the tradition of the best narrative storytellers, he brings together newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews to tell the story of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who not only saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat but changed how the world viewed the United States, and set in motion the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and to America’s victory in the Cold War.

On June 24, 1948, intent on furthering its domination of Europe, the Soviet Union cut off all access to West Berlin, prepared to starve the city into submission unless the Americans abandoned it. Soviet forces hugely outnumbered the Allies’, and most of America’s top officials considered the situation hopeless. But not all of them.

Harry Truman, an accidental president, derided by his own party; Lucius Clay, a frustrated general, denied a combat command and relegated to the home front; Bill Tunner, a logistics expert downsized to a desk job in a corner of the Pentagon; James Forrestal, a secretary of defense beginning to mentally unravel; Hal Halvorsen, a lovesick pilot who had served far from the conflict, flying transport missions in the backwater of a global war—together these unlikely men improvised and stumbled their way into a uniquely American combination of military and moral force unprecedented in its time.

This is the forgotten foundation tale of America in the modern world, the story of when Americans learned, for the first time, how to act at the summit of world power—a masterful and exciting work of historical narrative, and one with strong resonance for our time..
Price: $14.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This history of the Berlin airlift presents the inspiring story that marked the climax of the first Cold War crisis. The United States and its Allies mobilized an airlift of tons of supplies each day that helped residents of Berlin survive a 11-month siege of their city. Precise facts regarding everything from tonnage to unit deployment support an in-depth analysis of the logistics of the endeavor. Included is a list of RAF units involved, a chronology, and documents detailing the partition of Berlin and Germany. Framed within the transition from World War II to the Cold War, Berlin Airlift explores how this massive movement of supplies transformed the world of aviation.

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Price: $12.47 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A pilot for the China-based airline reputed to be the most shot at in the world, Felix Smith recounts in vivid detail his experiences ferrying troops and equipment for the Nationalists during China's civil war; providing medicine and supplies to war-torn regions; and flying under CIA contract during the French war in Indochina, the Korean War, America's secret war in Laos, and the Vietnam War. China Pilot provides a rare view of the Cold War in Asia, documenting not only the hair-raising adventures of Civil Air Transport's pilots but also those of the men and women behind the scenes..
Price: $17.85 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Through the thrill of a love story between John Carpenter, American Eagles Over Berlin presents the events of the Airlift breaking the Berlin Blockade at the beginning of the Cold War era in 1948-1949. In June, 1948, the Soviet Army blocked all access to West Berlin, essentially taking hostage two and half million inhabitants. For almost a year, the planes of the U.S. Air Force and the British RAF, like an army of majestic eagles, kept blockaded Berlin alive through the air. Every minute an airplane landed in Berlin transporting all supplies necessary for the survival of the blockaded city. The Americans arrived in Berlin as enemies in 1945. Three years later, they became friends, allies, guardian of the freedom, and the hope of two and half million Berliners. In war-torn Germany, John and Esther meet and fall in love in the turmoil of history. From the Oval Office in Washington, to Stalin's study! in Moscow, from elegant Paris to blockaded Berlin, we follow the events of the blockade. Through Soviet harassment in the air corridors, plane crashes in Soviet territory and their ultimate sacrifice we experience heroism of the pilots. Despite cold, hunger and darkness, the people of Berlin hold out against hostilities. Soviet spies and secret negotiations lead to the lifting of the blockade, but the victory tragically separates John and Esther. By a twist of destiny, they will meet again forty years later, in 1989. When the Berlin Wall comes down, they will understand the purpose of their lives..
Price: $17.10 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In The Two O'Clock War Walter J. Boyne chronicles with intense detail the brief but furious October 1973 invasion of Israel by Egypt and Syria, an episode also known as the Yom Kippur War. Boyne alternates his attention between actual battlefield descriptions and the equally frantic maneuvering by diplomats and statesmen of the combatant countries, their allies. and, most ominously, Russia and the United States, which refused to stop rattling their sabers at each other. At least twice, the region--and by implication the greater world--came perilously close to suffering the ultimate nightmare: nuclear war. Boyne's language is often blunt but he is generally fair-minded: his showers of blame and praise fall on individuals on both sides of the conflict. Running through the book is his premise, convincingly presented, that a massive American airlift--Operation Nickel Grass--was the decisive factor in Israel's fending off defeat. The book--especially its military sections--demands a reader's full attention. --H. O'Billovich.
Price: $12.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Edwin Gere's The Unheralded: Men and Women of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift tells the story of the greatest humanitarian effort in modern history With the ground and water routes to West Berlin blockaded by the Soviet Union, the extraordinary Berlin airlift flew coal, food, medicine, and everything needed for survival to 2.24 million West Berliners for 462 days until traditional supply routes were restored in September 1949.

Through personal memoirs, The Unheralded salutes the thousands of ground forces, enlisted soldiers, sailors, and airmen (men and women both), noncommissioned air crew, and German civilians whose valiant efforts made the airlift a success. The Unheralded includes over 30 photographs and gives a concise, insightful history of the Soviet blockade and Berlin airlift. The Unheralded also presents, for the first time, both the biographical detail and accounts of the American, British and Commonwealth subjects, and Germans who lost their lives in airlift-related accidents..
Price: $23.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $14.33 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Time forKids Readers on the civil war to present Time.United states History Contains 25 pages.
Price: $4.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]