Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War | Robert Coram

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War | Robert Coram | An Insightful, educational, bio of a little-known American Hero

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Boyd: The Fighter ...

	Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War Robert Coram Back Bay Books, 2004 - 504 pages average customer review:based on 39 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A great American hero-a 20th-century warrior and military strategist who lived outside the spotlight but whose work has been enormously influential-is brought brilliantly to life in this acclaimed biography. John Boyd was the finest fighter pilot in American history. From the proving ground of the Korean War, he went on to win notoriety as the instructor who defeated-in less than 40 seconds-every pilot who challenged him. But what made Boyd a man for the ages was what happened after he left the cockpit. He transformed the way military aircraft-in particular the F-15 and F-16-were designed with his revolutionary Energy-Maneuverability Theory. Boyd dedicated his later years to a radical theory of conflict that was largely ignored during Boyd's lifetime, but that is now widely considered to be the most influential thinking about conflict since Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

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A True American Hero - Warts and All!!

This book was brought to my attention by a fellow docent at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Az. We had been E-mailing on matters involving the military, military planes and those that fly them when he indicated that as far as he was concerned "BOYD, THE FIGHTER PILOT WHO CHANGED THE ART OF WAR," was "required reading" for someone with my interests.

Was he ever right, with that assessment.

John Boyd had a certain genius about many things. When it came to military aircraft, how to fly them, how to fight them he was without peer. He expanded his knowledge and thinking into military theory and in doing so has had untold influence on many of our leaders, both military and political. He was uncompromising, often uncouth and ferocious in his passion to seek the truth. He did not suffer fools well, especialy those with stars on their shoulders.

Those who measured up to his values and beliefs were friends for life. Those that stood in his way were challenges to overcome and in that regard, although he was never a true American ace as a fighter pilot, he was one many times over in dealing with the arrogant, the self absorbed and the career chasers.

His life is an amazing story. He was a failure as a parent and sadly lacking as a husband and that part of his life is difficult to read about.

John Boyd's life covered a tumultuous time in the military history of the United States. Robert Coram has told it in a manner which is true to both his memory and his accomplishments. The author himself put it best when he noted: "For while America likes to believe that it often produces men like John Boyd, the truth is that men who embody a warrior spirit combined with sweeping and lasting intellectual achievement are rare, not only in America, but in any country. They seldom pass among us. And they do so only when there is a great need."

John Boyd is a person that anyone with an interest in military history needs to know about and there is no better way than in the pages of this book.

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An Insightful, educational, bio of a little-known American Hero

One reviewer said, "This is an extraordinary book about a giant of a man." All true, but Boyd was also a tragic figure (almost in the classic Greek sense) who paid a high personal price for his dedication.

Our lives crossed, but I never knew him. I was at Georgia Tech at the same time Boyd was. There were some "old military guys" in my engineering classes, and I expect he was one. Later, as a management consultant I helped mentor my clients about OODA loops as a part of competitive strategy and new product design. BUT I NEVER KNEW WHO BOYD WAS, AND WHO'D COME UP WITH THE CONCEPT.

The book is a good read. It contains excellent insights and lessons. Love him or hate him -- and I'm sure there are many in both categories -- America needs more people like Boyd, especially these days.

Now I'm going to purchase and read Coram's book about Bud Day. America needs more heros, and less of the partisan bickering and CYA we get from Washington these days. Even Duke Cunningham sold out for personal power and Beltway Politics once he got to Congress....

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The Choice - Be Someone or Do Something

An incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking look into the life of Col John Boyd, USAF, one of the most controversial figures in Air Force history.

As a young fighter pilot/engineer Boyd came up with Energy Maneuverability Theory which paved the way for how the world would view fighter design and tactics. Later Boyd would expand his area of influence to include tactics, strategy, and creativity. The OODA loop being one of his most famous works as well as maneuver warfare which the Marines used to help transform the way they do war.

Boyd was known for his utter disdain for the politics of rank that permeated the Pentagon and the wide-spread misuse of funds. His confrontational style didn't play well with many, but his ideas were too valuable to the Air Force, so he was always bailed out at the last second.

He told many that during their career as military officers they would come to a crossroads where they would have to decide if they wanted to be someone, or do something. He chose to do something and the military hasn't been the same since.

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A rivetting read from start to finish

I just chanced upon this book in Boders while visiting Penang recently and was pretty much riveted from the moment I picked it up to the moment I finished it, about 3 and a half days later. It is really an intriguing and gripping read and the life of this extraordinary man is certainly worth studying. The author (Robert Coram) is clearly fascinated with his subject and brings his passion to bear on this work of modern historical writing. The only fault I can find is that, as a piece of historical scholarship, it should have been much more diligently and thoroughly footnoted, which could have been done without reducing the book's excitement or the ease with which it can be read. I definitely will buy multiple copies of the book and hand it around to my friends.

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Well Written, Entertaining, Flawed

Robert Coram deserves high praise for being the first to write about a true American hero, but this first biography has serious flaws and should not constitute the "final word" on Boyd or his work. Another biographer is needed to more closely examine Boyd the man, and render the kind of judgement in that regard that is usually required of a serious biographer.

John Boyd personified, more than any other person in living memory, the fine line between genius and madness. Perhaps it's too soon to be exploring this aspect of his legacy--the gunsmoke hasn't yet dissipated from the most recent "Boyd inspired" military action, so it's no surprise that we might hesitate to "get into all that." But it's obvious from reading Coram, even if he simply chooses to state the bald facts without comment, that Boyd wasn't just "eccentric." "Eccentric" is having oddball hobbies and peculiar clothing. Boyd was indeed eccentric in those areas. But he was "more than eccentric" when he became obsessive, when his insomnia caused him to spend hours reciting this theories to people over the telephone, when he yelled at general officers and when he, yes, neglected his family. Some spark of madness drove him on--he was what they used to call "touched"--as in "touched by the Divine."

The history of mental illness in Boyd's family is something that Coram does mention, but he skirts over the implications when he introduces Boyd's children as they begin their life in a Washington, D.C. apartment. They are described as "quiet" and "sensitive" as if these words still meant "strange." Apparently, these "code words" are supposed to "clue us in" that all is not well, but straight, simple and direct language grants people the dignity they deserve. By tip-toeing around the subject Coram gives the impression that it's somehow obscene. If that's the way he feels about it--well, it's his book.

If, on the other hand, Coram's discomfort with mental illness reflects a reaction to the many "psychoanalysis biographies" that crowd the shelves, then he picked the wrong subject. If he wanted to write a biography of Boyd that minimized his emotional problems, he should have spared us the "embarrassment and shame" of having to read the book's epilogue. This portion the book slanders Boyd's survivors in an attempt to "once and for all" dismiss the notion that mental or emotional instability may have played a role in the dazzling career of this extraordinary person, who bullied the biggest and the baddest and came out smiling. Boyd was a winner--but he was also a man with some serious issues. But using language (as Coram does) like "embarrassing" and "shameful"--what, exactly, is he attempting to say there? It reads like some bizarre recollection of the attitudes from the nineteenth century, when they considered anything involving mental health to be "embarrassing and shameful." Writing those words is not something that you do if you are a professional, as Coram certainly is.

Finally, it seems that Coram is just not willing to state the obvious conclusion--that "divine madness" may be more divine than mad. That people like John Boyd could be routinely overlooked, ignored, rejected and thrown out--and only the fact that Boyd had managed to cleverly wedge himself into the military system saved him from being dismissed as a "crank." Boyd's true legacy should be an inspiration to the cranks and the crackpots of this world--since quite a few of them turn out to be right, eventually. Coram doesn't want to go down that road--so he should have left well enough alone and ignored the issue entirely. But he had to tack on that epilogue. Four stars reduced to three by the epilogue and the damage it does.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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