`Written in Tillman's highly readable style and profusely illustrated with photographs, this book should be in every collection of World War II literature.' - Naval Aviation News

`The Dauntless story is a thrilling account about the planes and pilots who flew into history.'- Portland Magazine

`A must for aviation buffs.'- Tacoma News Tribune

*Widely acclaimed account of the famous Dauntless dive
bombers of WWII and the men that flew them
*Available in paperback for the first time
*Filled with fascinating photographs

Popularly known as the Douglas Dauntless, the US Navy's SBD dive bomber was well named. Though considered obsolete at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dauntless turned the tide of war in the Pacific with the destruction of four Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway, making its mark in aviation history for sinking more enemy carriers than any other aircraft. Still in service at the war's end, it was the only US carrier aircraft in operation from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day and the only one to fly in all five of the naval engagements fought exclusively by aircraft carriers. It was also credited with sinking the first Japanese fleet submarine and dropping the first bombs on Japanese-occupied soil during the war. In the Atlantic, the SBD sunk Vichy French shipping at Casablanca and German vessels in Scandinavian waters.

In this gripping book Barrett Tillman provides authoritative accounts of all these missions. At the same time he tells the rousing story of the men who took the`slow but deadly' Dauntless into combat, loving her for her ruggedness and dependability while wishing for more speed and firepower. Among the tales he recalls is that of the pilot who single-handedly almost knocked out a Japanese carrier and died in the process, and that of the SBD squadron that flew unexpectedly into the Pearl Harbor attack. Widely acclaimed when it was it was first published in 1976 it is now available for the first time in paperback.

Barrett Tillman, the son of a SBD Marine pilot, helped restore the Dauntless now on exhibit at the Marine Corps Museum at Quantico, VA. He is also the author of Corsair, Hellcat, and Wildcat among others.