Frankum provides a concise and insightful summary of the complex and contentious issues of the air war in Southeast Asia. If one has time for but one book on the air war, I strongly recommend that volume be Like Rolling Thunder.
James R. Reckner, director, The Vietnam Center, Texas Tech University A concise, comprehensive account of the air war in Southeast Asia, packed with data, that covers all theaters of the war.
John Prados, National Security Archive A timely and judicious account, Like Rolling Thunder skillfully addresses both the successes and failures of one of the more controversial aspects of America's war in Southeast Asia.
John Ernst, Morehead State University, author of Forging a Faithful Alliance Presents a concise history of the air war in Vietnam.
Forecast
Ronald B. Frankum, Jr., . . . offers a compelling, readable, and concise overview of a complex, intricate, and long air war, perhaps the dominant aspect of America's longest war. . . . Much of the earlier writing on air war, mine included, reflected passions attached to the controversies we lived. Frankum's writing—thankfully—is devoid of such emotion. Like Rolling Thunder offers a good overview of a complex story bolstered by statistics, informative maps, photographs of the primary weapon systems, and a useful glossary to make sense of the abundant acronyms. The concluding bibliographic essay alone is worth the price of the book. It will be especially useful in undergraduate Vietnam War courses.
Earl H. Tilford, Grove City College