I'm a sucker for some WWII memoirs. Add in the air warfare, and I'm a happy camper!
The author was a night fighter, something that was in its infancy during WWII. It was a 'learn as you go' type of thing, and sometimes mistakes were made. Overall, it evolved into an important part of the war for the skies.
I was really happy for the first part of the book. I could easily follow along with the stories and understand his struggles. Then there was a section focusing on the technical side of radar usage. It brought it way down for me. Even with the examples, I sometimes wouldn't be able to follow what was going on. I was tempted to give it three stars, but then I read the postwar section. It was interesting how these two groups of men had so much in common. The author mentioned having to harden his heart and remember these men were the enemy. In other circumstances, these men could've probably talked about common experiences for hours.
A really sweet thing was the summary at the end written by the author's son. There's just something wholesome about someone referring to "Daddy" while describing the mundane and extraordinary events of Roderick's life. I'm giving it four stars out of five, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. If you're really curious about the in-depth workings of night flying during WWII, this book might be right up your alley. I'm going to give it a Decent Book! review. I couldn't bring myself to push it over into the Good category.
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