THIS ARRIVED FROM ENGLAND

Hot out of the design shop at Osprey - the cover for “Turning the Tide: The USAAF in North Africa and Sicily.”

Publication date is July 16 (right after my birthday and a nice present, since most authors my age are no longer writing new stuff). You can order it at Amazon

Turning The Tide

From the publicity blurb:

In 1942, the Western Allies needed to take the offensive against the Axis to relieve pressure on the Soviet Union. With planning for a cross-Channel invasion beset by logistical and operational difficulties, in May 1942 President Roosevelt ordered his military leaders to prepare to support the British in the Mediterranean. This led to the first USAAF units arriving in the Middle East in July, firstly as reinforcements for the British and later as part of the Operation Torch landings in French Morocco and Algeria in November.

In little over ten months from the summer of 1942, the USAAF in North Africa grew from nothing to a senior partner, providing aircraft and crews the other Allies were unable to match. The Axis forces that had controlled almost the entire southern shore of the Mediterranean had been swept from the African continent – thanks in no small part to the efforts of the USAAF.

Using first-hand accounts from pilots and other aircrew, Tom Cleaver describes how the USAAF units that landed in Morocco were forced to learn their own lessons in combat with veteran Luftwaffe units, and how the experience gained in the skies over North Africa and Sicily was invaluable in developing the air forces that would dominate the skies over Europe in the latter years of the war.

“This is a story of high drama and high heroism, told by a master of military aviation history. Once again, Tom Cleaver has given us a work that both informs and entertains, and which makes a substantial and lasting contribution to military aviation historiography.” ―Richard P. Hallion, former Historian of the US Air Force

“Cleaver masterfully weaves personal stories of pilots into the larger fabric of the war, creating a narrative that puts the reader into the cockpit as well as the history books.” ―James R. Benn, author of 'The Phantom Patrol' and other Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries

Paid subscribers will be able to read excerpts from the new book next month and in June. If this interests you, you can get in on the read for only $7/month or $70/year.

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