cover image Strike Force: The USAF in Britain Since 1948

Strike Force: The USAF in Britain Since 1948

Robert Jackson. Robson Books, $19.95 (182pp) ISBN 978-0-86051-303-2

A British import, Jackson's short book is intended partly to justify the presence of U.S. air bases in Britain and to reassure his countrymen that the 1983 deployment of cruise missiles and the use of Britain-based F-111s in the 1986 Libyan airstrikes were in accordance with NATO and Anglo-American agreements, respectively. The book's overall point, sketchily developed, is that Western Europe would probably not have survived, especially during the early Cold War years, if the American air force had not returned in 1948. The main portion deals with various types of USAF planes and missiles and their capabilities, along with anecdotes illustrating the generally smooth relationship between U.S. personnel and local civilians. The few examples of friction mentioned barely keep the book from reading like an extended public-relations handout. (June 8)