Perhaps the most significant fighter aircraft of World War II, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was the largest and most powerful single-engine fighter of the war, and with over fifteen thousand P-47s built, its production numbers topped any other American fighter. P-47 Thunderbolt at War traces the history of the P-47, including the pioneering efforts of Alexander de Seversky and Alexander Kartveli, who designed the prototype; the features that played into the P-47s combat performance; and its wartime construction and testing. The rugged Thunderbolts flew in combat across Europe, Africa, and the Pacific--as fighter, escort, and fighter bomber. They are brought to life through numerous photographs, many in full color, and through personal war stories from the men who flew them. Affectionately known as "Jugs," P-47s may not have been the most agile fighters, but they could take a pounding and get back home--an attribute worthy of any pilots affection. P-47 Thunderbolt at War includes personal war stories of fighter-plane combat in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific; tales of the aircrafts postwar adventures in China, Algeria, and South America in the 1950s; and a number of Republic P-47 Thunderbolt specifications charts and diagrams.
Cory Graff is the Military Aviation Historian at the Flying Heritage Collection museum in Everett, Washington. In his free time, he works on aviation-related history projects, including exhibits and books. His articles have been published in Air & Space Smithsonian magazineand the Museum of Flight's Aloft magazine. Graff is the author of five previous aviation books, including Shot to Hell: The Stories and Photos of Ravaged WWII Warbirds, Strike and Return: American Air Power and the Fight for Iwo Jima, and P-47 Thunderbolt at War. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
