Saga of the Superfortress - The Dramatic Story of the B-29 and the Twentieth Air Force

Sidgwick & Jackson, 1981

Best known as the aircraft that carried the atomic bomb to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the B-29 Superfortress emerged from WW2 as a dramatic symbol of the force of American strategic air power. The most advanced bomber of its day, it was equipped with remote-controlled gun turrets, was the first to be pressurized for high-altitude operations, and could carry its eleven-man crew and thousands of pounds of bombs for more than 5000 miles at over 400 miles per hour. It was a tremendous technological achievement. It was also the Army Air Force's biggest gamble. This is the story of the B-29 from its conception in the mind of General H.H. Arnold, to the epochal delivery of Little Boy, the first nuclear attack. Over 220 photographs...