Charles Dryden's book forces people to see the trials and tribulations encountered by black servicemen and women during WWII. I was shocked to read about the different encounters with 'Jim Crow' that Dryden and his peers waded through during their service years. A must for anybody curious about WWII, the Tuskegee Airmen or about the fight for civil rights in America.

I meet Col. Dryden when he gave a talk about his experiences and his book. I then read the book a felt a tremendous respect for the author and all the Tuskeegee Airmen. Col. Dryden tells his personal story in a way that made me feel as though I was there with him the whole time. The challanges of blacks in America in his story left a powerful impact on me, the courage the author displayed is an insperation. A-Train is very well written and reads easily. It is an powerful story that left me feeling inadequate and ashamed to be white. I had the oportunity to meet Col. Dryden again and sought him out just to shake his hand again, knowing him from his book, it was hard to hide my emotions.

Every young African American boy should read this book. It is an inspiration.

Norrell's book gives a detailed story of the movement in Tuskegee, the home of Booker T. Washington. It clearly shows of the Macon County's progress away from the accommodationist views of Washington. For those who are not familiar with the movement outside the realms of Martin Luther King and others, Reaping the Whirlwind is a great source to fill your mind.

The struggle for civil rights was a long and argous process, and Robert Norrell's Reaping the Whirlwind, is an example of how the movement progressed, grew, and eventually was successful. In his book he traces the lines of leadership at Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama. As the novel progresses, society increasingly adapts to the ideals behind an integrated community. The struggle for equality was not won as easliy as the court battles suggested rather, true equality could never have existed due to the white exodus of the "model city." This is an excellent portrayal of the events in this small town, and this novel should be mandatory reading in any civcs or Civil Rights History class

History records major events that often changed or will change human events. History is packed with stories about famous people and places that every child knows about, from Washington to Lincoln to Kennedy. But what about those people in history that make a difference and never get noticed?

Written by his daughter, what we find in this book is more than history its living history. Smith captures the reader with insight only a person this close to the subject can bring to life. Just the lessons about the Tuskegee Airmen is reason enough to read this book.

Talk a walk through the 200-page life history of one of the greatest men in aviation history. Honored by a number of people, Charles McGee is a true national hero for all ages and all people. The sad part of the whole story is how the history books missed the group of men who changed aviation history.

In a day when it is a sad reality that most American history books fail to portray any African American as a hero in the history books, it is great to know that people like Charlene McGee Smith can help us to remember that history is colorblind. Excellent reading for everyone!

This is a wonderful story that chronicles the life of Col. Charles McGee who holds the record for the highest three-war total of fighter combat missions in US Air Force history. It is told through the eyes of his daughter who captures both the military experience as well as the human side of this story. We learn of the perseverance of this Tuskegee Airman who was able to overcome racist experiences and become an American hero. Part of the delight of this book is the personal rememberances by family and friends. Col. McGee flew combat missions and navigated racist attitudes and biases throughout his life. This account is about more than a distinguished military career,it is about family and the significant influence he had on his eldest daughter. We learn about his bravery but more importantly lessons about the value of family, character, and education shape a powerful message for all of us.

Most people who have any familiarity of BTW have heard the oversimplified stereotype that he was supposedly an "Uncle Tom", etc. This shows the fallacy of that thinking. Here, BTW tells off the Governor of South Carolina in 1895 for cutting off funds for Black schools "if you think education is expensive-try ignorance!" and socks it to the Louisiana Legislature for allowing Blacks to be lynched "I heard a boy say "today I have seen a man hanged and I shall soon see one burned. Before I hear such a remark from one of my sons I would rather see him in his grave." read it, and you'll be surprised.

When I first opened the book, I did not understand all the trials and tribulations a Black man had to go through during that time period. After reading all of the detailed pages, I didn't only understand the book, I became a part of it. In this book, he not only speaks of the troubles he went through, but he speaks for thousands of other Black men and women who endured racial societal discrimination. I rate this book a "Must Read."

Young Black men prior to WWII only dreamed of flying for the U.S. Military. Many of them sneaked off to France to enter flight school. But when President Roosevelt ordered the formation of the 99th Fighter Squad, the Black men started their flight training at the Tuskeegee Institute of Alabama, an all-Black school founded by Booker T. Washington, a former slave himself. The first experiment consisted of 13 students of which only 5 finished the schooling. Classes followed, and finally, orders were for the Black pilots to go to North Africa to fly P-40 Warhawks. Their mission was to protect the large American bombers. The Black pilots showed their knowledge and their patriotism in spite of the fact the officer's clubs were still segregated. The only place they were completely equal was in a prisoner of war camp. However, while acceptance of Blacks as pilots was starting to happen in the war, back home in America, the integration issue was just heating up and about to explode. This book is an excellent glance into the history of Black American Military pilots.

Like so many other people did, I watched the movie on HBO about the Tuskegee Airmen and I really enjoyed it. Because of the movie I went out and bought and read everything that I could about the Tuskegee Airmen. I have read at least a half dozen books on the subject so far and have far and away enjoyed this book more than any others. The authors have done a magnificent job of researching the subject. Their story flows seamlessly from their introduction through each obviously carefully written photograph and photographic caption. I loved it. I encourage every American to read this book, it's uplifting and educational at the same time. Well done to the authors for writing this book and well done to the men and women that made it happen.

I need to start out by saying that I am a young black man and as such, this book had a great deal of meaning for me. In an era and in a society in which so many young black men are portrayed in such a negative light, it is good to see a book filled from beginning to end with black men and women of great accomplishment. All young black men and women should be intimately aware of the Tuskegee Airmen and the tremendous accomplishments that they have made to American society. I have never met a Tuskegee Airman, but I would like to. This is a very good book and I encourage all of my brothers and sisters to read this book. Blacks in America need heroes. These men and women are my heroes. I salute them and the authors for writing such a golden book.

This book was excellent and informative. However, readers should know that it is written in a research style, almost like a text book (sometimes putting the reader to sleep-and the reason I am only rating it four stars), as opposed to being written by an investigative reporter (and reading like a thriller). The book is extremely well documented. The author was intimately involved with helping lawyer Gray (Rosa Parks' lawyer) prosecute the case against the federal government, by providing much of the documentation given in this book. He began work on the book while a student in Harvard's bioethics program in 1972, and only subsequently becoming involved with lawyer Gray.

The book is a complete history from the conception of the experiment, until its termination, including the viewpoints of ALL participants. In addition to learning about the experiment itself, I learned a lot about life in the rural American South, which I had not previously known, and a lot about the disease of syphilis that I hadn't known. Some examples: I didn't know that 30-40 percent of blacks in the rural South were infected, nor that the disease crosses the placental barrier, which caused a lot of syphilitic babies. The book includes pictures of syphilitic skin lesions, and discusses multiple complications of the late stages of the disease.

The book also delves into the moral and racial issues extensively. There is an updated chapter at the end comparing the syphilis crisis to the AIDS crisis, and discusses why so many blacks are distrustful of doctors and hospitals-this experiment simply being one of the most recent examples of how this segment of our society as lied to, and taken advantage of.

What was MOST shocking to me about this book was that I was born in 1955, and this experiment continued into the mid-1970's. The FIRST time it was questioned on moral grounds was about 1962, and throughout the 60's, most doctors did not even QUESTION the morality! The story was broken the same day as Sargent Shiver's having obtained psychiatric counseling-the latter story I heard about extensively, and the former not at all! Before buying this book, I had never even heard of this medical experiment, and I just can't believe things like this were taking place IN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA until the mid-1970's!!!

Jones has written an outstanding book which will likely make all readers question the ethics of human experimentation and why doctors choose the patients they do. The book covers the history of the Tuskeegee experiment, a study of the effects of untreated syphilis, or "bad blood," on poor black men in the South, from the 1930's to the 1970's. All of the players in the story, from the doctors, to the nurses, to the patients themselves are discussed in outstanding detail.

The syphilis study was unquestioned when it began, as many doctors did not render treatment for syphilis, which could often be much worse than the cure. However, the experiment continued for almost forty years after the development of penicillin, which would have provided a ready cure for most of the subjects and not risk exposing their wives and children to infection. The experimenters took a great deal of trouble to ensure that their patients did not receive effective treatment for syphilis anywhere. The book's additional chilling reminder is that, on top of all the human suffering caused by this study, it had no scientific value whatsoever, as many of the subjects had been treated in some way, and there were other studies on the effects of syphilis.

The concluding chapter is newly written to detail the linkages between the Tuskeegee experiment and the current AIDS crisis. This chapter discusses the reasons why many American blacks think the virus is targeted towards their communities.

I loved the loving care with which this book was written. The horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was that there truly was no evil intent on the part of the doctors involved, and all believed that the "patients" truly benefitted, receiving health care they otherwise would not have received for other ailments that they could not have afforded treatment for otherwise. In fact, the Tuskegee "patients" received health care for aches and pains that neither their neighbors nor even their wives and children were able to access, because of their "privileged" status as part of the "government study." Placing the story squarely in the context of its time, Jones does not excuse those who bear the responsibility for the choices they made regarding the men involved in the study, but attempts to explain to the best of his ability why those in authority made the decisions they made, even to the point of placing a black nurse in the pivotal position of overseeing the consistency of the study and maintaining contact with the study "subjects" while the doctors themselves were rotated every year as part of their own "educational" history. Even Tuskegee itself was run by black doctors who chose to look the other way when they knew, had to know, the detrimental decisions that were being made. That is how power works. That is how it worked then, and that is how it works today. Is it because of Tuskegee that the Public Health System lacks credibility? Or is it because of the ongoing and persistent ignorance and incompetence of the Public Health System itself? The system is infested with politics, funding fiascos and unethical practices. It didn't start with Tuskegee, and it certainly didn't end there. This is a very important part of the story, and should be mandated reading for anyone who wants to understand the controverted manipulations of the Public Health System. It is only the beginning, however. Don't stop there.

As a Southerner who enjoys our heritage in cooking, I ordered this book eagerly, based on prior reviews and the description.

This book gives a somewhat cursory history of Tuskegee Institute, along with some photographs. Included are recipes from Dr. Carver.

In my opinion, the greatest disappointment with this book is its incomplete documentation of the rest of the recipes. Where did they come from, or from whom? In a book that blends recipes with history, this is a significant flaw. Certainly, some of the recipes, such as Guacamole dip and El Paso cheese dip, don't sound authentic to Tuskegee. Again, who knows? Historical collections of recipes should credit these recipes to someone, or simply state that a recipe is 'traditional'.

I buy cookbooks to read as much as cook from. This book is organized with narration in italics mixed with the recipes. For me, it makes the book more difficult to read.

(...)

This cookbook is chock full of old time recipes. There are wonderful pictures and pieces of history that are long forgotten and shouldn't be. It is great!!
I originally bought this for a co-worker and since buying the first one, I have been bombarded by others who have seen it. Each person wants one. It includes recipes that anyone who has ever had southern cooking will love! This makes a great gift.....for yourself and others.

The recipe's are fantastic. The cookbook was inspired by people who know what is good; also the stories are most impressive. I love how this book has sat-up menu's for certain holidays and occasions. I enjoy reading this cookbook, because there is a story behind it.

The World War II exploits of the 332nd Fighter Group--the first all-black unit in the US Army Air Forces--is a fascinating story on several levels. The pilots of the 332nd fought long and hard in the skies over North Africa, Italy, and Central Europe. They racked up an impressive record of enemy aircraft shot down, ground targets destroyed and--on the bomber-escort missions they often flew--friendly planes brought home safely. They also paved the way for the integration of the armed forces, and of American society generally, by showing that blacks could handle the stress of battle and the demands of high-performance airplanes just as well as whites. In a world where many (most?) whites saw blacks as innately inferior, the Tuskegee Airmen proved otherwise.

This book is a dense, detailed, information-packed history of the 332nd during and immediately after the war. It's a valuable source on a vital topic, and I'm glad it's out there.

That doesn't, however, make it a great book.

The style, for close to 400 pages, is choppy and unpolished with only a vague suggestion of a strong narrative line. Context is spotty at best, and technical terms sometimes go unexplained. The typography is idiosyncratic, and the inexplicable rendering of nicknames in italics and ranks, abbreviated, in ALL CAPS is distracting in a book where names come thick and fast. The type face itself is ugly, and the reproduction of many of the pictures is substandard. The index consists almost solely of personal names, which makes it intensely frustrating to use if you're not already intimately familiar with the story. To look up an incident in which two members of the 332nd sank a German destroyer, you have to know what their names were . . . no entry for "destroyer," or "strafing," or "naval vessels."

If there were other books out there that provide the sheer volume of facts about the subject that this one does, I'd give it about a star-and-a-half. There aren't, but there ought to be. The 332nd was noted for its professionalism; it deserves a more professionally-done history. Until that book gets written, though, this one (flaws and all) is essential.

In baseball, Jackie Robinson's impact can never be overstated. What he did for the game is immeasurable. In the world of aviation African Americans owe a debt of thanks to a group of men called "The Tuskegee Airmen". Their contributions to aviation are just as immeasurable.

Francis takes the reader back to the time when blacks in the army were living under Order 9981 from President Truman. Francis's gives you the triumphs and failures and brings it to life through each page. This read was truly remarkable.

This is the second book I have read on the Tuskegee Airmen, the first being a biography of Charles F. McGee, and for the second time I was moved by how this group of Officers and enlisted personnel worked through segregation to ensure the civil rights of those to follow.

Army life today, and the African American who serve with honor, can thank the men of this book for what they have. This nation owes a debt of thanks that can never be expressed enough. I am truly thankful to have had the opportunity to read this wonderful book.

"Tuskegee's Heroes" is one of several books which have recently evolved in tribute to the achievements of the all-black 332nd Fighter Group during World War II. Unfortunately, compared to many current titles on this subject, including "Red-Tailed Angels" and "Red Tails: Black Wings", this one rates rather low in comparison. While the research is well documented, the writing style itself leaves something to be desired, being most dampened by the author's excessive use of exclamation points. Most discouragingly, the book contains a selective and misleading appendix on the Tuskegee pilots who became POW's, summarized with statements, like, "In chronicling the heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen, we must remember those who faced the added horror of being held as Prisoners of War!", and attributing their "minimally" humane treatment to efforts of the Red Cross. In reality, the Tuskegee Airmen(5 of whom I've personally spoken to on this topic) recounted the irony of being subjected to better treatment at the hands of their Luftwaffe captors than by the air force in which they served. However, this book does feature a valuable assortment of photographs, statistics, and paintings by aviation artist Roy LaGrone. This is a good read, but there are better compilations already available on this overlooked chapter of aviation history.

The Coopers do a fine job of taking a participant of a neglected portion of history and combining it with the facts. As a primarily visual person I enjoyed the combination of Mr LeGrone's art with the author's descriptions of the historical events. It was a rewarding read and a great book to leave out for friends to see - keeps them in touch.