The Untold Story of Howard Snyder and the B-17 Susan Ruth: How One Pilot and His Crew Faced Down the Enemy

John Musgrove: This book is well written, and I was unable to put it down. The details, scenes, and narrative are all professionally presented in a very compelling story. Highly recommend.

United States on Feb 04, 2024

Ronald D Pluymers: I felt like I got some sense of the incredible sacrifice these men, their families and the brave people of occupied territories made. We are so incredibly fortunate to have the wonderful lives we have because of all these people.

United States on Jan 09, 2024

Carolyn Greene: This is fascinating!

United States on Dec 15, 2023

Windy Johnston: "Truth is stranger than fiction. You can't make this stuff up," -Steve Snyder. An exceptionally apt statement from the prologue launches the reader directly into the world of a WWII B-17 bomber pilot and his flight crew. Encompassing all of the various aspects of training, deployment, flying missions, waiting, life on and around a war-time military base both stateside and abroad, including the toll on family members back home, Shot Down: the True Story of Pilot Howard Snyder and the Crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth by Steve Snyder gives the reader an eye witness account of one of the most turmoil laden times in modern history. One can almost smell the fumes from the fuel, feel the percussive booms of the bombs exploding, and imagine the intense range of emotions and physical stresses endured by pilots and flight crews alike!

At only two chapters in, it was immediately apparent that the level of research behind Shot Down was extremely thorough and the writing style has enough sense of professional detachment that the reader isn't bogged down by the author's personal emotions and opinions. That certainly is not to say that the book is devoid of emotion; on the contrary, Mr. Snyder...

United States on Dec 24, 2021

Ron Debenham: It was a very interesting book, both when he was training, when he was flying mission, then when he was shot down,
then evading capture.

Australia on Aug 26, 2020

Kevin M.: I have been fascinated with the 8th Army Air Force since I was a kid. I was born in East Anglia UK where many of the USAAF were stationed in WWII and heard many stories about the men of the 8th growing up. In my last year of high school I did my project about the men, the airplanes and airfields of Mighty Eighth. I think it might have been part of the reason I ended up living in Texas.

Anyway I have read a lot of books about WWII and had started reading a few to my then 9 year old daughter as I wanted her to know what a true hero was. I'd been taking her to airshows from the time she was 18 months old and would always take her through the heroes tent. I had just finished reading her Col. "Bud" Anderson's book "To Fly and to Fight" (another excellent read BTW) and was asking on a facebook page dedicated to WWII what would be another appropriate book to read to my daughter and Steve's book was one of a few that came highly recommended. First of all I read it myself and thoroughly enjoyed it but when I read it to my then 10 year old daughter she was wanting me to carry on reading and was staying up later than normal. The book is about Steve's dad who became a pilot of a B17...

United States on Aug 02, 2020

Jonathan Nicholas - AuthorJonathan Nicholas - Author: This brilliant book is written by the son of a B17 Pilot and tells the true story of when they were shot down over Nazi occupied Europe in WW2 detailing what happened to the ten man crew after bailing out. The details are astonishing & so the research was clearly extensive. It begins with the various crew members training in the US and their arrival in a dismal, grey, rationed England in the dark depths of war, when all these young Americans subsequently catch colds, flu or pneumonia, from living in draughty Nissan huts on English air bases. Thousands of allied airmen were assisted in their escape by very brave French, Dutch & Belgian civilians, risking immediate torture and death. Indeed some villagers were shot for helping the crew of this B17 the Susan Ruth. Some members of its crew were sadly betrayed by quislings and then mercilessly shot in the back in a French field by the Nazis where a memorial has since been erected.
What I liked most about this book are the details of the civilians who helped the airmen and the details of what happened to them after the war and their subsequent meetings with the surviving airmen many years later; the human aspects of the...

United Kingdom on Jun 28, 2020

Helmut Vorlaufer: Good read for ww2 aircraft enthusiasts I chose the kindle version because it is convenient to read anywhere

Canada on Mar 04, 2020

Cliente Amazon: I love it!...incredible book!,very interesting , I truly recommend,every single day we need to remember all of them,they lost the live for our freedom!

Spain on Apr 29, 2016

John Raymond Boulanger: Very good read

Canada on Mar 25, 2016