The B-17 Flying Fortress Story. Design – Production - History

The B-17 Flying Fortress was not only a major contributor to the success of the Allied air campaign against Germany in World War Two but also the epitome of a challenge faced, fought and won — a charismatic vision of military might whose evocative name captured the public imagination as they saw formations of the machines flying from their British bases. 

Other aircraft may have been more adaptable, performing equal feats, but it was the 'Fort' which achieved celebrity status and retained it. Roger Freeman has written a library of books on the aircraft and men of the USAAF, especially those of the Eighth Air Force which, since his first trilogy of books used the term, has become known universally as 'The Mighty Eighth.' 

In an earlier work, Claims to Fame: The B-17 Flying Fortress, the author selected certain named and numbered examples whose operational history could be tracked in detail. In this volume his emphasis is far more on the design and production of the bomber and, with the help of David Osborne, he supplies an unprecedented summary of the war history of every B-17 that took part — all 12,731 of them! For veterans and their families, for historians, modellers, preservationists and general aviation enthusiasts, this volume will be an essential part of their information source. Its comprehensive coverage of the role and function for which the aircraft was created, of its technical make-up and the modifications it received, of its performance and then the histories of every single machine, will mark the book as a ground-breaking contribution to aviation history.