This book on the naval air war over Vietnam should be required reading not only for all military pilots, but for every military and civilian official who is involved in planning strategy, tactics, or military weapon procurement.
But don't get the idea it's a boring book; besides giving the reader a clear view of what happened in the air over Vietnam, the author makes his points in a very readable fashion, not by preaching but by simply pointing out what we did, and why we could have done so much better -- in the conduct of the war, in providing better (often SIMPLER) equipment, and in better training.
It's definitely worth obtaining from an out-of-print dealer or from your library. Even if you have no connection with the military, this will expand your understanding of that period in US history.

This work is a clear-headed, no holds barred look at the Vietnam air war from the naval perspective. Don't let its even tone fool you. It cuts to the bone and damns by simple observation, with no need for editorializing by the authors. It points up the facts, fictions, failures and achievements of the naval air war against North Vietnam in a quick, easy style, with superb organization and excellent supporting material in the appendices. Any student of the Vietnam air war who misses this title is not a serious person. It is required reading on the subject, and should be complemented by Marshal Michel's "Clashes" for the USAF side of the story.

I was LCDR meteorologist on USS Coral Sea during the same period as CDR Nichols. Through his book, I am able to understand many of the discrepancies in aerial warfare that I saw and did not understand at the time. I saved several to many pilots lives with my "not too optomistic" forecast during the "cratchin conditions" in the winters in Tonkin Gulf in 66 and 67. If I can locate CDR Nichols, I will personally shake his hand. I visited Vietnam, and Hanoi in 1995, and found absolutely no hostility, and found very little battle damage. After all, I briefed many Alfa strikes to Hanoi and I wanted to see what we had done, My daughter now lives in Hanoi and her husband is building a luxery hotel for western tourist and Japanese tourist. She lives on a Hanoi cul-de-sac and all the neighbors are very friendly and they share food, baby sitting and shopping sprees. Isn't it funny how the times change? I love it... Wildbill

I picked this book up at a yard sale. I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before, but suffice to say, it was a page turner. It chronicles the exploits of a young dive bomber pilot, from the beginning of WWII to the Guadalcanal campaign.

I loved it so much, I ordered the sequel directly from Amazon.

Mr. Tillman, where is the third book?

Barrett Tillman is uniquely qualified to write this very exciting and authentic historical novel, which is far above the typical techno-thriller. And the author's comment is correct: the Kirkus Review does totally miss the point - scared but plucky young aviators are not inserted as a stock literary device, but because that's precisely who fought these titanic Pacific clashes. The true life heroism and sacrifice so well depicted is probably just incomprehensible to many "elites" today. Tillman is far more sympathetic in describing his Japanese sailors than most war authors, and is fair to the brave young men on both sides. Most of all, this is a great read - engrossing and informative.

When I read both "Dauntless" and Barrett Tillman's follow on novel "Hellcat". I could almost smell the distinct odor that permeates a warship. A mixture of lube oil, ozone and red lead paint that I have only smelled aboard US Navy ships. From my vantage point of having spent a large portion of my adult life aboard aircraft carriers, from the mid 60s through 1990, I can say Tillman has captured the feel of the ship. Barrett Tillman has the unique ability to take those tactile and emotional cues and pack them into the pages of the book. There are several excelent books that tell stories of the battles of Coral Sea, Midway and the Eastern Solomons from the historian's point of view, but Tillman tells you what it must have felt like to be there. Tillman knows his subject matter. He restored and flew a WWII Dauntless. He has spent a great amount of time with the men who fought these battles. I suspect that, the reason his books have the feel of being there is that Tillman is an expert at pulling that out of these vets and alowing the rest of us to experiance what they experianced. He transmits the excitement of being in a dangerous situation, and the fear of seeing the thing that might end your own life. He has captured the terible feeling of loss, when you know a friend is gone for ever. The only thing I don't like about "Dauntless" is that it's out of print! I can't see why "Dauntless" isn't still on the shelves. I had to really search for it. When I found it, I found my self saying, "just one more page" at 3AM. Some publisher is missing a good bet here.

For readers who have heard of retroactive Medal of Honor awards since publication of this book in 2002, please know that I'm keeping abreast of the situation. Much has changed in a short time, including the passing of the irreplaceable Joe Foss in January 2003. If A&B enters a second printing it should include corrections and updates.
(I apologize for rating my own book--I'd avoid it if it were still possible for an author to comment on his title without doing so!)

Over 100 American airmen have received the Medal of Honor since World War I. Barrett Tillman's new book, written for the Smithsonian Institution, is a fresh look at these warriors and their exploits.
The book is arranged by war and service, with each recipient being individually covered. What's novel about this effort that author Tillman doesn't rely on just the official (and frequently stilted) citations, but interviewed numerous experts and witnesses of the events along with as many of the surviving medal recipients as he could locate. What you get is what Paul Harvey would call "The rest of the story", and it includes inter service rivalries and a fair dose of politics as well as courage, heroism and sacrifice.
Among the familiar names- Bong, Rickenbacker and Foss you'll find many whose valor have been lost to history. The author also covers aviation-related awards, such as men who received the medal while POWs as well as mentioning some who are commonly believed to have received the medal- Army's Colin Kelly, and some who probably should have- including Marine Marion Carl.
Tillman takes time to compare other nations' counterpart medals and deals with the changing criteria for the award through the years. He also includes things you may not have thought of, such as that the B-17 Flying Fortress has been the mount of more CMOH winners (17) than any other aircraft, while the Grumman F4F Wildcat leads all fighter types, with eight.
Highly recommended for those who enjoy reading military aviation titles.

This book focus only on the F-8, thelast Navy fighter that was designed for gun air combat. You can find very detailed air combat record in Vietnam, including the time, place and names and you can really enjoy the contents and understand the other side of the stories of Navy air combat history in Vietnam

Barrett Tillman has long set the standard for aircraft histories, and this volume is an outstanding work dedicated to a unique, often forgotten and under-rated aircraft. The achievements of the F-8 aircraft and its fliers are well covered and entertainingly rendered in this fast reading narrative. An essential work for anyone interested in jet fighters, Vietnam air combat, or air warfare in general.

Barrett Tillman and Bob Lawson have joined forces to produce a true jewel of a book on the US Dive and Torpedo bombers of WWII. Both individuals are recognized experts in the field and their collaboration has yielded a standout treatment of each significant dive and torpedo bomber in service during World War II. The text is an outstanding reference on the origin and development of each type aircraft as well as its introduction and success (or tribulations) in combat. This is nicely balanced by the superb imagery, many in color, and detailed captions. These gents really know their stuff and it shows. If you're interested in this subject and don't have it yet, your collection is not complete.

Up till now, my reading has focused on the soldier(s) or battles, sometimes even a good novel (ie War and Rememberance), but I've never attempted to read a book about the fine machines of World War II. Reading this book was a pleasure that I savored.

The book is organized into eight chapters. Each chapter discusses the planes in detail giving manufacturing history, sometimes the designer and usually indicating the specific number of planes produced. The chapter then goes on to describe the action the specific plane saw in WWII. I thought I knew a lot about the Battle of Midway, but it wasn't until reading this book, that I learned that our carrier killer, the Douglas SBD did not have folding wings. It seems ironic or perhaps unusual for a carrier plane to not have folding wings. But I'm not the only one who thought that; an incident is described aboard a CVL where the plane director told an SBD pilot to fold his wings after landing. The pilot told the director "This is an SBD". The director said "Well, fold 'em anyway".

As you read each chapter, much of what is described is illustrated by high quality photos. I think I spent as much time studying the photos as I did looking at the text. The title page has a huge picture of the Enterprise launching her SBD's 12/7/41. One doesn't often see a deck full of SBD's with red dots in the center of the stars, which were painted out mid-1942.

Although the book is loaded with technical language, most is easily understood by the context. The book also discusses other planes used in the south pacific, such as patrol bombers and some of the fighters. It tells of the use of navy planes on the Atlantic side of the WWII theater also.

Whenever possible, the author(s) use personal stories to give one a first hand experience in the cockpit. Mr. Tillman shares his own story helping to restore an SBD-5 in the early seventies. Most of the stories, though, are from 1941-1945. Many are from names I already knew, but I learned of a few more in this book. We had no shortage of heroes in WWII.

"Beyond the Wild Bunch" rates five stars for (1) thorough treatment of the subject (2) exceptional production values (3) excellent color photography (4) a wonderful assortment of western movie themes and (5) a screamin' deal. This is a $40 book for less than $30, and whether you're a cowboy action shooter or not, if you have one drop of Old West blood, you'll relish this superb volume.

I have read nearly every book on the subject and this is the definitive best. Espically the illustrations. There is something about seeing the aircraft in color that makes them come alive. I reccomend this book to any fan of the Second World War.

This book reveals the greatness of this plane that was developed before the war and the amazing feats that was accomplished with it and the men who flew them.Often used successfully as a fighter against the Japanese Air Force.This plane built by Douglas Aviation Co along with the Grumman F4F Wild cat kept us in the battle the 1st year of the war until more modern planes were produced, Having flown many hours of patroling as a crew member in this plane I can vouch for it's authenticity.An excellent and well written book.

Mr. Tillman represents one of the best of the breed of historical novelists; he is well-versed in the historical facts and technological details of his subject matter, yet also has the artistic gift of being able to engage the reader by creating interesting characters caught up in the consequences of tremendously important global events.

Both Dauntless! and Hellcats are superb fictional treatments of what it might have been like to fight and survive the Pacific War as a young US Naval aviator.

I hope that the final episode of the trilogy, Sabrejets, will actually be finished and published; I'll be the first in line to purchase it. (And no, I'm not putting my own hard copies of either Dauntless or Hellcats up for sale on E-bay---they'll stay on my bookshelf for years to come.)

Mr. Tillman, you please keep at it! (and by the way, your non-fiction dissertations on the various aircraft used in the Pacific War are superb as well.)

The intended sequel to "Hellcats" was to be "Sabrejet," completing the Rogers/Sakaida trilogy begun in "Dauntless." The publisher of "Hellcats" lapsed from the military fiction market shortly after publication, but since then has resumed interest in the field. I hope to pursue the Korean War saga and will try to notify this site accordingly.
Thanks to everyone who's expressed interest in "Sabrejet" over the years.
(I'd not bother with a rating of my own book if I could post otherwise!)

A great read for anyone with an interest in World War II aviation. Tillman certainly knows his stuff... Exciting and well written.

I only gave the first book in the trilogy, "Dauntless, the Novel" 4 stars, but "Hellcats" is a full 5 star read. Now, if someone would only publish the third book, "Sabrejets, the Novel" and follow his fascinating main characters into Korea.

This book is a lost gem compared to any other in its genre,its descriptions of modern naval warfare put Clancy to shame.Its story line is similar to Larry Bonds "Cauldron" but places the emphasis on the action at sea but still carries the story of the land war very well. Why has he not written more books of this kind ?

The Sixth Battle describes a very technical detail of modern carrier war. I don't think all people can understand the true meaning of this book. But for naval warfare fans..this book is next to King James Bible. I always play the war in my head when I'm going to sleep. APG 71 Up.....Fox Three...Fox Three.

This book is by far, the best Naval book I've read, followed by Red Storm Rising. The level of technological content and tactics is well to the liking of readers of Tom Clancy or Dale Brown. It contains suspense, action, anything you could ask for. This would make a great movie...IF they follow the book.