Book Reviews and Notices : Way of a Fighter. The Memoirs of Claire Lee Chennault, Major General, U. S. Army (Ret.). EDITED BY ROBERT HOTZ. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1949. Pp. xxii, 375, illustrated. $4.50.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200445
• Published date: 01 December 1949
• Author: W. Harold Dalgliesh
• Date: 01 December 1949
• Subject Matter: Articles

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Way of a Fighter. The Memoirs of Claire Lee Chennault, Major General,
U. S. Army (Ret.). EDITED BY ROBERT HOTZ. (New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons. 1949. Pp. xxii, 375, illustrated. $4.50.)
Read this book! Read it for its adventure stories and its muckraking;
but most of all read it for the warning which it carries in its preface that
we need a change of policy if we are to avoid &dquo;a disastrous repetition of
the errors that dragged us into World War II.&dquo; Ten years spent in China
and a lifetime of experience with air services culminating in the organiza-
tion of the Flying Tigers enable Major General Chennault to analyze the
need for American action in China in the form which he has made
famous. Because he believes it to be an &dquo;utterly mistaken notion&dquo; that it
is possible or necessary to cooperate with the Russians he urges prompt
action to curb the further spread of Communism in China. He assures
us that &dquo;at the first real sign of American interest ... marginal millions
would abandon the Communists.&dquo;
The story of aerial warfare in China and Burma fills most of this
book; but it is the account of what Chennault views as ineptitude in high
circles of American officialdom and of the crying need for &dquo;imagination,
energy and intelligence to accomplish the so-called impossible&dquo; which
makes the volume significant. Among those who will not feel more kindly
to Chennault after...