Book description
A detailed portrait of American fighter pilot John Boyd examines his distinguished military career during the Korean War and his postwar efforts as a military theorist who took on the entrenched Pentagon bureaucracy to transform the art of modern warfare and the American military with his revolution
Why read it?
2 authors picked Boyd as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
As a bomber guy to the core, I approached this book with a silent groan—ugh, another Tom Cruise tale. Was I ever wrong! ‘Forty-Second Boyd’ (maximum time it took him to defeat all challengers) was not only a great fighter pilot, his combat tactic discoveries changed the way every air force in the world flies and fights today. Many consider him the father of the legendary F-15 and F-16 fighters.
Coram’s knowledge and writing style are superb. Boyd was a complicated man; absolutely brilliant with insight and slide rule, a poor father and worse husband—loud, abrasive, and profane. He rarely…
From Robert's list on The best books about aviation history from a triple-rated pilot, navigator, and bombardier.
In both war and business, size and technology are pieces of a winning strategy, but not the biggest factors. Otherwise, the Fortune 500 would never turn over! To figure out what’s missing, Boyd added insights from thermodynamics, quantum physics, physiology, and mathematics to Sun Tzu’s philosophy of winning without fighting, or, if that proves impossible, to win before fighting. The result was a revolution in the design of fighter aircraft and a doctrine of warfare that has been adopted by militaries from the US Marine Corps to the Royal Norwegian Navy.
Coram was a reporter and novelist before turning to…
From Chet's list on The best books for upsetting your orientation.
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December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
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