America had been fighting in World War II only a few months when the United States Army Air Forces asked John Steinbeck to aid the war effort by writing a report to help recruit airmen. Published in 1942, Bombs Away, the result of this curious liaison, is much more than typical army recruiting propaganda. Steinbeck, the master novelist, produced a classic chronicle documenting the real life of a bomber crew, an account as vivid and exciting as the best of his fiction.

After visiting the training camps and flying fields of the air force, Steinbeck began writing his account of a six-member team. Creating characters from the airmen he met and spoke with, he gives a true-to-life picture of the air force's rigorous training programs. Part recruit manual, part dramatic narrative, Bombs Away details the education and practice, individual personalities and teamwork, that go into the making of a bomber crew. Vintage Steinbeck, Bombs Away is a unique slice of history in the hands of one of America's most acclaimed writers.