The Blister Club

NetGalley Review: 5 stars

Last updated on 11 Aug 2021

“A great read on how pilots shot down in Europe evaded capture and returned to England. The stories are a quick read with great human interest retelling their escape. I found the book interesting and a must read for the history buff.

Thank you to #NetGalleyfor the ARC in exchange for my honest review.”–Ron Baumer, reviewer at Nawah Energy

Last updated on 19 Sep 2021

“There’s no debate that these downed airmen had the more hazardous task, but the incredible task of wading through 43,000 pages in 58 boxes of hand written accounts, typed first drafts, edited copies, final reports from US army air forces records is a close second in arduousness. These are the stories, in their own hands, of (primarily) American airmen evaders of WW2 who lived to utilize, write, and rewrite, the survival training of Escape and Evasion as instigated by Gen Curtis LeMay (Pacific Theater of Operations) and utilized in Europe. There was training and even a basic survival kit for each airman sent up. This book is a testimony to the bravery of the men (and the blisters on their feet) and effective use of the information supplied. Very well done!

I requested and received a free ebook copy from Rowman & Littlefield, Stackpole Books via NetGalley. Thank you!”–Jan Tangen, consumer reviewer

Michael Lee Lanning, a graduate of Texas A&M, served more than twenty years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel with the Senior Parachute Badge, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Ranger Tab, and Bronze Star. In Vietnam he commanded an infantry platoon, a recon platoon, and a rifle company. His military career included service as public-affairs officer for Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Department of Defense public affairs work. He has appeared on NPR, CBS, and the History Channel and has written twenty-five books, with more than a million copies of his books in print in fifteen countries and twelve languages. His previous books include the classic Vietnam, 1969–1970: A Company Commander’s Journal (Ivy Books, 1987; Ballantine, 1988; Texas A&M, 2007), which the New York Times called “one of the most honest and horrifying accounts of a combat soldier’s life to come out of the Vietnam War.” With Stackpole, he has published Tours of Duty: Vietnam War Stories (2014), reprinted Inside Force Recon: Recon Marines in Vietnam (2017), and written The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (Spring 2020). A native of Texas, Lanning lives in Lampasas, Texas, not far west of Fort Hood.