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Description
This fascinating history reveals the Korean War as the birth of modern jet combat, where dogfights forged heroes in the limelight of fame and the shadow of secrecy.
This gripping history of the Korean War's jet age contrasts the celebrated exploits of American fighter aces with the hidden war waged by their Soviet adversaries. It follows figures such as Joseph McConnell, whose victories in the F-86 Sabre made him a public hero in the United States, and Nikolai Sutyagin, the highest-scoring ace of the war, who flew MiG-15s under false markings before vanishing back behind the Iron Curtain.
Drawing on decades of suppressed history, the book reveals how Soviet pilots were the primary opponents of United Nations airmen in “MiG Alley” – a truth long dismissed as rumor, even as American pilots heard Russian voices over the radio and were ordered to remain silent. The Korean War marked the world's first jet-on-jet air war and produced more such combat than all later conflicts combined, redefining aerial warfare forever. By placing American and Soviet aces side by side, Limelight and Shadow explores how courage, competition, and ideology collided at supersonic speeds, turning elite pilots into instruments of propaganda and pawns in a global struggle that was anything but cold. Some entered history's spotlight; others remained in the shadows – and only now can their stories be told together.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: They Called Him “The Ace”
Chapter 1: What is an Ace?
Chapter 2: American War Stories of World War II
Chapter 3: Soviet War Stories of the Great Patriotic War
Chapter 4: Warplanes of the Aces
Part II: An Unforeseen Hot War in Asia
Chapter 5: Why in the World?
Chapter 6: Opening Shots
Chapter 7: Surreptitious Interventions
Chapter 8: Reversals of Fortune
Chapter 9: Deadlock on the Ground, Not So in the Air
Part III: Aces at War
Chapter 10: Their Dogfights Seemed Prearranged
Chapter 11: The Great Deception
Chapter 12: Red Aces in the Making
Chapter 13: In the Glare of the Spotlight
Chapter 14: A Veteran Eager to Make His Mark
Chapter 15: The Man from Gorkiy was a Rising Star.
Chapter 16: With Five, There Came a Prize
Chapter 17: Pressures and Promises
Chapter 18: Months of Intensity
Chapter 19: Upping Their Game
Chapter 20: An Ace in Two Wars, then Twice Over
Chapter 21: December Triumphs
Chapter 22: Victories to Celebrate, Secrets to Keep
Chapter 23: Star-Studded Skies
Chapter 24: The End of an Era
Chapter 25: An Icon's Last Battle
Chapter 26: Time For Action
Part IV: The Climactic Year
Chapter 27: New Faces, More Aces
Chapter 28: Leading Parallel Lives
Chapter 29: One for One
Chapter 30: A Race of Aces
Chapter 31: To Finish His Job
Chapter 32: Over The Top
Chapter 33: The Final Stretch
Chapter 34: Closing Out the Tab
Part V: Intense Limelight, Deep Shadow
Chapter 35: Stepping into the Limelight
Chapter 36: Beyond All Expectations
Chapter 37: Stepping into the Shadow
Chapter 38: Hollywood Calling
Chapter 39: Hot Rod Jets and Super Sabres
Chapter 40: Softening Shadow, Fading Limelight
Epilogue
Appendices
Appendix 1: American Aces of the Korean War
Appendix 2: American Aces in both World War II and Korea
Appendix 3: Soviet Aces of the Korean War
Appendix 4: US Air Force F-86 Sabre Units: Order of Battle in the Korean War
Appendix 5: Soviet MiG-15 Units: Order of Battle in the Korean War
Appendix 6: Acronyms and Abbreviations
Bibliography
Product details
| Published | 15 Apr 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Audiobook |
| Duration | 10 hours and 0 minutes |
| ISBN | 9781472875914 |
| Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
| Series | General Military |
| Short code | GNM |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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