Product Description

When the SS Athenia was torpedoed during the first hours of World War II, James Goodson survived the sinking and went on to become one of the war's leading fighter aces. Goodson flew Spitfires for an RAF Eagle Squadron before later converting to Thunderbolts and Mustangs with the Fourth Fighter Group, earning the reputation 'King of the Strafers'. Breathtaking descriptions of the aerial dog-fights, and vivid portraits of the men that fought, combine in this dramatic, gripping story of courage and sacrifice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #647505 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
James A Goodson was born in America to British parents and brought up in Toronto. He was one of WWII's leading fighter pilots - credited with 32 enemy aircraft destroyed. He now lives in Kent.

Customer Reviews

An incredible story of war in the air
I use the word incredible advisedly. This is an autobiographical account of the authors war flying with first the RAF Eagle Squadron and then with the USAAF, on the western front during World War 2. The main part of the book is a series of portraits of other pilots in the squadron and their stories, which are gripping and well told. This section of the book is very interesting, entertaining and believable. However, I just could not credit the authors tales about himself. Throughout the book he portrays himself as the hero of just about every situation he lands himself in, from saving other passengers when the ship taking him home to the US at the start of the war is torpedoed, to digging German civillians out of bombed houses in Berlin after he is shot down. Ultimately I lost trust in the author and did not believe him. The story that I found most difficult to believe was his tale of his being shot down and captured. He writes that he is shot down while attacking a German airfield and wounded in the leg. He evades initial capture and tries to hobble his way to the Baltic Sea with the aim of getting on a boat to Sweden, but is captured and due to face a firing squad. However, he manages to befriend a guard and get an interview with the camp Kommandant. The Kommandant is determined to shoot him, but our hero softens him up by teaching him how to blow smoke rings over a glass of Cognac. The Kommandant succumbs to his charms and releases him to the Luftwaffe who transport him to a prisoner of war camp via Berlin. On the way our hero stops to help dig German civillians out of the ruins after a US bombing raid (his scrapnel damaged knee now forgtten). He describes going into a buried cellar that no-one else will dare go into, where he finds a dying woman who makes him promise to look after her 2 year old child, who is still alive beside her. The child is later taken off him by the Red Cross. It is all just a bit too good to be true. I thought when I was reading it that some false memory syndrome had crept in to his stories, and wondered how long after the event this memoir had been written. Sure enough it was first published in 1983, so must have been written at least 30 years after the event.

Perhaps it is all true and I am unfairly maligning the authors heroic war time record. There is no doubt that he was a great fighter pilot, and his stories of the war in the air ring true. However, many of his stories about himself seem implausible and exaggerated. He lost my trust as a reader.

High Flight
This book brings to life the aviators that sacraficed thier all for freedom. It is the story of James A. Goodson and his fellow pilots of the 4th Fighter Group. Seventeen pages contain pictures of the pilots - faces to put with names, some who came home and some who never will. If there is any "glory" in war, Goodson tempers it with humanity. Victors were those who kept their honor and did their duty - Allied or Axis. I must admit, Goodson is one lucky son of a gun. But then everyone that made it home fits that description. Read the book - meet the men who took "High Flight" and were brave enought to meet the Tumult in the Clouds.

An aviation classic
After another day dealing with fevered egos and petty politics it is humbling to read about the courage, honour and humour displayed by pilots from the RAF, RCAF and USAAF, while it seemed like the world was collapsing into chaos and the list of your friends killed in action is growing daily.

'Tumult in the Clouds' has to rank with 'Chickenhawk', 'Fate is the Hunter' and 'Sagittarius Rising' in terms of aviation classics. James Goodson tells his and his co-pilots' stories with emotion and clarity that allows us to feel some of the glory and horror of air combat.

I don't know if James Goodson is still alive, but nonetheless I'd like to thank him and all his comrades for letting me see beyond all those fevered egos.