Flyboys

Why it’s on the list: Bradley’s account of nine American airmen shot down over Chichi Jima — eight of whom were never accounted for publicly — and of what the Pacific war did on both sides. He sets the atrocity inside the longer history of how each country had been taught to see the other.

Where I heard about it

• A reply to @typesfast — in the thread under his question “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (June 2025), listed as “Flyboys by James Bradley.” The full set of replies is on What’s the best history book… (tweet).

Connections

• World War II — the Pacific theatre.
• D-Day, June 6, 1944 — Ambrose’s European-theatre book, named in the same thread.
• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.