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Bradley's work is a terrific read, thoroughly engaging at all times, but is desire for politically-correct history occasionally detracts from the narrative his own sources are clearly detailing.

Just as in Flags of our Fathers, Bradley wants desperately to paint a nuanced, progressive picture of the "good war," and he succeeds on occasion in an attempt that is nothing if not earnest. However, Flyboys falters when Bradley doggedly compares the racial attitudes of the principle national actors, descending into occasional false equivalence � and genuine awkwardness � as the author’s presentist didacticism clashes with obvious cultural and statistical realities (e.g., the vastly different treatment of POWs by both sides). These moments in Flyboys are painful, aggravating, and detract from a compelling narrative (side note: Bradley’s insistence on inserting 21st century presentist narratives into his works would completely derail his 3rd attempt at history, the, deeply-confused, critically-reviled Imperial Cruise).

Flyboys is at its strongest when Bradley is simply quoting, detailing, and contextualizing the subject of his narrative: the fighter and bomber pilots of World War II’s Pacific Campaign. Their quiet, humble accounts are enough to move and thrill even the most jaded historian. It is here, when Bradley allows history to speak, that Flyboys truly soars.