Stratofortress: The Story of the B-52

Nothing says airpower like the iconic silhouette of the B-52. Since it started operations in 1955, and going forward until at least 2040, the lean fuselage and huge wingspan of the BUFF has represented the ability of the United States to lay down destruction on call.

Bowman has written a bunch of these books, and this is exactly what you’d expect from the cover, a detailed history of the B-52. The book covers the tense alert posture of Strategic Air Command, with a third of the fleet on airborne alert with live nuclear weapons, the Vietnam War, with Arc Light strikes and the deadly Linebacker II raids over Hanoi, and the modern use of the B-52 to deliver cruise missiles and smart bombs with global reach. There’s an exhaustive investigation of the many B-52 variants (A-H), lots of photos and diagrams, and lists of tail numbers and names.