Graham Cross
@grahamcross.bsky.social
Historian of American and Anglo-American diplomacy and war at MMU. Lifelong obsession with the 8th Air Force, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Suffolk. Views my own.
12. Martin Middlebrook 'The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission'
Detailed research on both sides of the hill gives a blow by blow account. Again, the best of the popular works.
Detailed research on both sides of the hill gives a blow by blow account. Again, the best of the popular works.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
12. Martin Middlebrook 'The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission'
Detailed research on both sides of the hill gives a blow by blow account. Again, the best of the popular works.
Detailed research on both sides of the hill gives a blow by blow account. Again, the best of the popular works.
11. Thomas Coffey Decision Over Schweinfurt
Coffey was an AAF vet and goes full 'Autumn Crisis 1943' but this is a well-researched book head and shoulders above a lot of the popular stuff out there.
Coffey was an AAF vet and goes full 'Autumn Crisis 1943' but this is a well-researched book head and shoulders above a lot of the popular stuff out there.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
11. Thomas Coffey Decision Over Schweinfurt
Coffey was an AAF vet and goes full 'Autumn Crisis 1943' but this is a well-researched book head and shoulders above a lot of the popular stuff out there.
Coffey was an AAF vet and goes full 'Autumn Crisis 1943' but this is a well-researched book head and shoulders above a lot of the popular stuff out there.
10. Ronald Schaffer 'Wings of Judgement'
A critical view of the American campaign.
A critical view of the American campaign.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
10. Ronald Schaffer 'Wings of Judgement'
A critical view of the American campaign.
A critical view of the American campaign.
9. Michael Sherry 'Rise of American Air Power'
Great on American ideology and bombing.
Great on American ideology and bombing.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
9. Michael Sherry 'Rise of American Air Power'
Great on American ideology and bombing.
Great on American ideology and bombing.
7. Phillips O'Brien 'How the War Was Won'
A counter to Overy and my only significant contribution to the profession- I was Phil's research cover at Glasgow so he could write this.
A counter to Overy and my only significant contribution to the profession- I was Phil's research cover at Glasgow so he could write this.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
7. Phillips O'Brien 'How the War Was Won'
A counter to Overy and my only significant contribution to the profession- I was Phil's research cover at Glasgow so he could write this.
A counter to Overy and my only significant contribution to the profession- I was Phil's research cover at Glasgow so he could write this.
6. Richard Overy 'The Air War' 'Why the Allies Won' and 'The Bombing War'
Immense scholarship and you can trace the evolution of his views.
Immense scholarship and you can trace the evolution of his views.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
6. Richard Overy 'The Air War' 'Why the Allies Won' and 'The Bombing War'
Immense scholarship and you can trace the evolution of his views.
Immense scholarship and you can trace the evolution of his views.
5. Roger Freeman 'The Mighty Eighth' and 'The Mighty Eighth War Diary'
Godfather of the popular accounts, the writing in TME makes it a difficult read. War Diary is excellent for the daily grind and scale.
Godfather of the popular accounts, the writing in TME makes it a difficult read. War Diary is excellent for the daily grind and scale.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
5. Roger Freeman 'The Mighty Eighth' and 'The Mighty Eighth War Diary'
Godfather of the popular accounts, the writing in TME makes it a difficult read. War Diary is excellent for the daily grind and scale.
Godfather of the popular accounts, the writing in TME makes it a difficult read. War Diary is excellent for the daily grind and scale.
4. McFarland and Phillips 'To Command the Sky'
Pretty solid and the best there is on the neglected fighter element of the campaign.
Pretty solid and the best there is on the neglected fighter element of the campaign.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
4. McFarland and Phillips 'To Command the Sky'
Pretty solid and the best there is on the neglected fighter element of the campaign.
Pretty solid and the best there is on the neglected fighter element of the campaign.
3. Craven and Cate eds. 'The Army Air Force in World War II' Vols II, III and VI 'Men and Planes.'
Old and official but a good starting point for understanding where some of the myths originate.
Old and official but a good starting point for understanding where some of the myths originate.
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
3. Craven and Cate eds. 'The Army Air Force in World War II' Vols II, III and VI 'Men and Planes.'
Old and official but a good starting point for understanding where some of the myths originate.
Old and official but a good starting point for understanding where some of the myths originate.
2. James Parton 'Air Force Spoken Here'
Eaker's official account so handle with care but well done and infinitely better than Doolittle's 'I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.'
Eaker's official account so handle with care but well done and infinitely better than Doolittle's 'I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.'
August 1, 2025 at 12:18 PM
2. James Parton 'Air Force Spoken Here'
Eaker's official account so handle with care but well done and infinitely better than Doolittle's 'I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.'
Eaker's official account so handle with care but well done and infinitely better than Doolittle's 'I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.'
Mustang related and guaranteed to cause angst is the suggestion of blue camouflage paint on 361st Fighter Group aircraft. Stems from the use of a filter on early colour Kodak film in 1944. People regularly die on this hill.
July 30, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Mustang related and guaranteed to cause angst is the suggestion of blue camouflage paint on 361st Fighter Group aircraft. Stems from the use of a filter on early colour Kodak film in 1944. People regularly die on this hill.
Thatched roof with a wisteria growing on the side, I think. Constable country is very twee.
July 25, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Thatched roof with a wisteria growing on the side, I think. Constable country is very twee.
It is a general history of the American wartime presence with an emphasis on commemorative efforts. It highlights the roll of honour placed in St Paul's Cathedral www.stpaulstrust.org/the-memorial
The Memorial — The Trust
www.stpaulstrust.org
July 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
It is a general history of the American wartime presence with an emphasis on commemorative efforts. It highlights the roll of honour placed in St Paul's Cathedral www.stpaulstrust.org/the-memorial
Would love to see the piece - do you have a link? IWM are a bit odd in putting all this stuff online as creative commons but charging prohibitive prices if any author wants to use them in a book.
July 4, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Would love to see the piece - do you have a link? IWM are a bit odd in putting all this stuff online as creative commons but charging prohibitive prices if any author wants to use them in a book.
What was you 8th AF project?
July 4, 2025 at 12:15 PM
What was you 8th AF project?
That's not to say all Roger's photos were British press photos - a lot came from American veterans - but a large chunk did come from the IWM originally.
July 4, 2025 at 10:07 AM
That's not to say all Roger's photos were British press photos - a lot came from American veterans - but a large chunk did come from the IWM originally.
As they couldn't establish copyright. Roger and few others on the grapevine (I know the guy who worked there at the time who sounded the alarm) went down and rescued them from the skip. When Roger passed, Winston acquired the collection and they eventually returned to IWM.
July 4, 2025 at 10:03 AM
As they couldn't establish copyright. Roger and few others on the grapevine (I know the guy who worked there at the time who sounded the alarm) went down and rescued them from the skip. When Roger passed, Winston acquired the collection and they eventually returned to IWM.
The Ministry of Information required copies of all press photos during the war - you can still see the censorship marks and press stamps on the reverse of a lot of Roger's photos. At the end of the war, they went to the IWM. In the late 60s, the IWM threw them out...
July 4, 2025 at 10:03 AM
The Ministry of Information required copies of all press photos during the war - you can still see the censorship marks and press stamps on the reverse of a lot of Roger's photos. At the end of the war, they went to the IWM. In the late 60s, the IWM threw them out...
He's also the reason IWM American Air Museum now have the Roger Freeman photo collection - a lot of which was originally theirs, but was thrown in a skip!
July 4, 2025 at 9:21 AM
He's also the reason IWM American Air Museum now have the Roger Freeman photo collection - a lot of which was originally theirs, but was thrown in a skip!
I do think US Air Power history, at least, is dominated by military or ex military personnel writing from a utilitarian 'what can we learn from this' perspective. This probably contributes to that focus on the sharp end. That's a funding issue really - whoever pays the paper can call the tune.
July 4, 2025 at 8:49 AM
I do think US Air Power history, at least, is dominated by military or ex military personnel writing from a utilitarian 'what can we learn from this' perspective. This probably contributes to that focus on the sharp end. That's a funding issue really - whoever pays the paper can call the tune.
I'd say that limitation is 'often' true of the popular end of the history market. There is a never-ending appetite for pilot and plane stories. Academic study is much broader, isn't it? I say this as someone currently writing a pilot bio but trying to set them in a much broader context/discussion.
July 4, 2025 at 8:32 AM
I'd say that limitation is 'often' true of the popular end of the history market. There is a never-ending appetite for pilot and plane stories. Academic study is much broader, isn't it? I say this as someone currently writing a pilot bio but trying to set them in a much broader context/discussion.
I loved it as a kid. My father bought it for me in lieu of pocket money. He called it "the magazine of dead bodies" because of its penchant for then and now photos of battles.
July 4, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I loved it as a kid. My father bought it for me in lieu of pocket money. He called it "the magazine of dead bodies" because of its penchant for then and now photos of battles.
Statues will always be difficult but then so would something abstract - people would complain about the lack of clarity/certainty.
July 1, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Statues will always be difficult but then so would something abstract - people would complain about the lack of clarity/certainty.