Synopses & Reviews
View the
Table of Contents.
Read the Prologue.
"An exceptionally well written, well documented, fast-moving account."Washington Times
"This is a book written on multiple levels, and well worth reading."M.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
"This book is a welcome addition to the history of naval aviation and fills a much-needed void by detailing the later years of the Vietnam naval air campaign."Sea Power
"Makes for lively, vivid, and informative reading. I would include it...on my list of the top ten books on the air war in Vietnam."
Air Power History
"John Sherwood has done a fine job in giving us a first-rate account of a confusing but critically important period in Naval Aviation history."The Hook
"As a collection of individual studies and 'war stories,' Afterburner should find an interested readership." Military History
"With a 45-degree dive angle set, 450 knots of airspeed building, and my altimeter unwinding like crazy, my scan went rapidly between the bombsight and flight instruments. . . . When I looked over my shoulder at the target, I could see where the bombs had hit and exploded."
Through stories like this diary entry of a fighter pilot, John Darrell Sherwood brings forth the personal accounts of 21 naval and marine aviators in this chronicle of the second half of the Navy's air war over Vietnam.
Despite spending over 200 billion dollars and dropping almost 8 million tons of bombs on Southeast Asia, the U.S. was unable to score a definitive victory in the air war. Afterburner takes us inside the day-to-day operations of the air war, particularly during the most intense year of the campaign: 1972. During that year, North Vietnam launched the first large-scale conventional attacks on strongholds in South Vietnam. Sherwood shows how the U.S. fought back with some of the most innovative air campaigns in its history, including Nixon's Linebacker bombings and the Navy's mining operation in Haiphong Harbor. From duels with enemy MiGs to the experiences of Commander C. Ronald Polfer, who became the voice of reason among American POWs in the Hanoi Hilton's Room 5, the detailed stories in Afterburner make these historical events come to life.
Sherwood compiles and analyzes an incredible breadth of information about the details of each of the Navy's operations during the air war and then relates the key parts of the narrative through the eyes of an pilot or flight officer involved in each action. Through tales of courage and fear, triumph and horror, Sherwood reveals the lives of common aircrews who performed extraordinary service. Their experiences illustrate the personal nature of wareven from the airand show that the air war in Vietnam may have begun as a slow burn, but by 1972, it was more intense than an F-4 afterburner.
Review
"This is history at its best. Sherwood provides at once a whole new understanding of the final stages of the air war in Vietnam and a thrilling volume of valor and adventure in naval aviation."-, "At times as thrilling as a Tom Clancy novel, Afterburner is more compelling, as the story told is non-fiction. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Vietnam War, Naval Aviation, or simply the heroism of Americans at war."-, "Sherwood's history of the Navy's post-1968 air operations in Southeast Asia and the culture of naval aviators who flew those missions is a must read for military professionals, scholars, journalists, and the interested public."-, "Sherwood not only provides an excellent overview of the Navy's air operations, but more important, he gives the reader a cockpit's eye view of this epic struggle. Anyone interested in understanding the naval air war in Vietnam as it was really fought needs to read this book."-
Synopsis
View the Table of Contents.
Read the Prologue.
"An exceptionally well written, well documented, fast-moving account."Washington Times
"This is a book written on multiple levels, and well worth reading."M.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
"This book is a welcome addition to the history of naval aviation and fills a much-needed void by detailing the later years of the Vietnam naval air campaign."Sea Power
"Makes for lively, vivid, and informative reading. I would include it...on my list of the top ten books on the air war in Vietnam."
Air Power History
"John Sherwood has done a fine job in giving us a first-rate account of a confusing but critically important period in Naval Aviation history."The Hook
"As a collection of individual studies and 'war stories, ' Afterburner should find an interested readership." Military History
"With a 45-degree dive angle set, 450 knots of airspeed building, and my altimeter unwinding like crazy, my scan went rapidly between the bombsight and flight instruments. . . . When I looked over my shoulder at the target, I could see where the bombs had hit and exploded."
Through stories like this diary entry of a fighter pilot, John Darrell Sherwood brings forth the personal accounts of 21 naval and marine aviators in this chronicle of the second half of the Navy's air war over Vietnam.
Despite spending over 200 billion dollars and dropping almost 8 million tons of bombs on Southeast Asia, the U.S. was unable to score a definitive victory in the air war. Afterburner takes us inside the day-to-day operations of the air war, particularly during the most intense year of the campaign: 1972. During that year, North Vietnam launched the first large-scale conventional attacks on strongholds in South Vietnam. Sherwood shows how the U.S. fought back with some of the most innovative air campaigns in its history, including Nixon's Linebacker bombings and the Navy's mining operation in Haiphong Harbor. From duels with enemy MiGs to the experiences of Commander C. Ronald Polfer, who became the voice of reason among American POWs in the Hanoi Hilton's Room 5, the detailed stories in Afterburner make these historical events come to life.
Sherwood compiles and analyzes an incredible breadth of information about the details of each of the Navy's operations during the air war and then relates the key parts of the narrative through the eyes of an pilot or flight officer involved in each action. Through tales of courage and fear, triumph and horror, Sherwood reveals the lives of common aircrews who performed extraordinary service. Their experiences illustrate the personal nature of wareven from the airand show that the air war in Vietnam may have begun as a slow burn, but by 1972, it was more intense than an F-4 afterburner.
"
Synopsis
Military history looking at aviators during the second half of Vietnam. The stories are told through interviews and journal excerpts of the pilots and aircrew themselves. Great tradey title.
Synopsis
View the
Table of Contents.
Read the Prologue.
"An exceptionally well written, well documented, fast-moving account."Washington Times
"This is a book written on multiple levels, and well worth reading."M.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
"This book is a welcome addition to the history of naval aviation and fills a much-needed void by detailing the later years of the Vietnam naval air campaign."Sea Power
"Makes for lively, vivid, and informative reading. I would include it...on my list of the top ten books on the air war in Vietnam."
Air Power History
"John Sherwood has done a fine job in giving us a first-rate account of a confusing but critically important period in Naval Aviation history."The Hook
"As a collection of individual studies and 'war stories,' Afterburner should find an interested readership." Military History
"With a 45-degree dive angle set, 450 knots of airspeed building, and my altimeter unwinding like crazy, my scan went rapidly between the bombsight and flight instruments. . . . When I looked over my shoulder at the target, I could see where the bombs had hit and exploded."
Through stories like this diary entry of a fighter pilot, John Darrell Sherwood brings forth the personal accounts of 21 naval and marine aviators in this chronicle of the second half of the Navy's air war over Vietnam.
Despite spending over 200 billion dollars and dropping almost 8 million tons of bombs on Southeast Asia, the U.S. was unable to score a definitive victory in the air war. Afterburner takes us inside the day-to-day operations of the air war, particularly during the most intense year of the campaign: 1972. During that year, North Vietnam launched the first large-scale conventional attacks on strongholds in South Vietnam. Sherwood shows how the U.S. fought back with some of the most innovative air campaigns in its history, including Nixon's Linebacker bombings and the Navy's mining operation in Haiphong Harbor. From duels with enemy MiGs to the experiences of Commander C. Ronald Polfer, who became the voice of reason among American POWs in the Hanoi Hilton's Room 5, the detailed stories in Afterburner make these historical events come to life.
Sherwood compiles and analyzes an incredible breadth of information about the details of each of the Navy's operations during the air war and then relates the key parts of the narrative through the eyes of an pilot or flight officer involved in each action. Through tales of courage and fear, triumph and horror, Sherwood reveals the lives of common aircrews who performed extraordinary service. Their experiences illustrate the personal nature of wareven from the airand show that the air war in Vietnam may have begun as a slow burn, but by 1972, it was more intense than an F-4 afterburner.
Synopsis
Since Galileo, critics have waged a relentless assault against science, attacking it as dehumanizing, reductionist, relativistic, dominating, and imperialistic. Supporters meanwhile view science as synonymous with modernity and progress. The current debates over the role of science-- described by such headlines as Scientists are Urged to Fight Back Against `Politically Correct' Critics in The Chronicle of Higher Education--testify to how deeply divided we remain about the values and responsibilities of science in the modern age.
Acknowledging the validity of a deep skepticism about science but eager to preserve its strengths and values, Alfred I. Tauber's anthology seeks to avoid an either/or configuration. Science, Tauber argues, is fundamentally pluralistic and must accept detracting criticism as part of its very code in the hope that, in its defense, the scientific enterprise is strengthened and reaffirmed.
Featuring essays by a wide range of interdisciplinary, classical, and contemporary thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Thomas Kuhn, Hilary Putnam, Evelyn Fox Keller, and Max Weber, the work is divided into five parts: science and its worldview; the problem of scientific realism; the nature of scientific change; the boundaries of science; and science and values.
About the Author
John Darrell Sherwood is an official historian with the U.S. Naval Historical Center. He is the author of Officers in Flight Suits: The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in Korea and Afterburner: Naval Aviators and the Vietnam War, both published by NYU Press. He is also the author of Fast Movers: Aviators and the Vietnam War Experience.