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MWSA Review
Grumman’s F-14 Tomcat prowled above war-torn lands and patrolled the troubled skies above conflicted seas worldwide for 33 years, operating mostly from aircraft carriers. The Tomcat’s electronic and human eyes spied on regional battles and at times pounced with deadly accuracy, making a positive difference. Though, according to the author, the leashed cat, never experienced its potential. The book, Tomcat Fury, by Mike Guardia is far more than just a book about a fighter plane. The masterfully crafted story is about a Navy fighter aircraft built to replace the Vietnam battle-worn and earlier generation fighters. The author, however, expands his narrative beyond just describing a formidable fighter by adding in-depth descriptive geopolitical history as seen through the prowling cats’ eyes.
This book is an excellent, detailed, American military history lesson covering a period leading up to 1973 and the F-14’s first operational flights to the cat’s sudden retirement seven months following its final aerial kill during Desert Storm in 2006. Iran, the only other nation to purchase F-14s, might have caused this aircraft to compete against itself. Details are revealed. One hundred and eleven carefully selected, mostly full-color photos, in high resolution, are properly located in the text accompanied with ample captions. Combat engagements are described in detail, which in some cases places the reader in the cockpit or, in one revealing episode, on the ground as two F-14 crewmembers scramble to avoid capture following being shot down behind enemy lines. Crewmember names and combat engagement details are fully revealed from the author’s in-depth research. With a slightly larger format and hardcover, this book, pridefully, would grace any coffee table.
Review by Tom Beard (March 2021)
Author's Synopsis
For more than three decades, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy’s premier carrier-based, multi-role fighter jet. From its harrowing combat missions over Libya to its appearance on the silver screen in movies like "Top Gun" and "Executive Decision," the F-14 has become an icon of American air power.
Now, for the first time in a single volume, "Tomcat Fury" explores the illustrious combat history of the F-14: from the Gulf of Sidra…to the Iran-Iraq War…to the skies over Afghanistan in the Global War on Terror.
ISBN/ASIN: B07XQJQ6XX, 0999644335
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference
Number of Pages: 154