It's not surprising that I thought this book was kind of thin, considering I was forewarned by other reviews, but it's still sad that it lived down to expectations. Describing Halsey on the flag bridge on the west coast in 1940, watching Japanese ships loading scrap metal...."War was coming. He could feel it." :-(- Or describing VJ day..."People who had never met before, and likely never would meet again, exchanged heartfelt hugs, kisses, solicitations, and body fluids." Is that detail really necessary in a book about the carrier Enterprise? There's another line a few pages later about sailors reminiscing about girls "loved and left" as the ship steams out of harbor. Not appropriate in a book that was published in the second decade of the 21st century.

Tillman has written a book that focuses mostly on the aviators, although he does manage to get in nearly all the ship captain's names, is not a very interesting or compelling narrative, and gives accounts of major incidents in a logbook-like, just-the-facts account. We learn about the character of some of the aviators shot down only in the same paragraph describing their deaths. Or we hear about how so-and-so (and really, the endless parade of unknown names is pretty confusing) was a tall guy from the Southwest who really loved gambling, but then there's nothing else about him until the next chapter when he is shot down.

Obviously Tillman has affection for the ship and it's crew, but details are thin (only 262 pages) and narrative is awkward and underwhelming. He's also hampered by trying to write about characters that have mostly died. Maybe that's why it reads more like a 1950's book...because he's relying on documents from the events rather than personal memories? Still, I can't help but wonder what an author like John Lundstrom would do with this subject. ( )

Unfortunately, I only made it mid-way through this history of the Big E, before taking it back to the library. While there were certainly some very interesting details about the ship, her battles, and her crew, it eventually became monotonous.

I certainly don't expect every book of history to be something akin to a biography, but I had hoped for a sense of "life" aboard the Enterprise—stories that came alive—as related to the people talked about within the pages. While the author did give personality traits for the men who served aboard her, the stories felt disconnected from them as actual human beings.

The air and sea battles were, at times, quite interesting, but after a while, the fights seemed repetitive (sorry, can't find a better word to use). A lot of victories and losses. Lots of names of people who survived and lost their lives. I don't mean to be, in any way, disrespectful, it just eventually became difficult to read another battle with new names who lost their lives or came back victorious ... over and over again.

However, for those who have relatives mentioned within these pages, I'm sure this is a great memorial and commemoration, as well it should be.

The negatives aside, this author definitely went to great lengths to research what he wrote. I can't begin to imagine the number of locations he had to go to to ferret all of the details out. Astounding, especially as it came to knowing what happened to specific Japanese sailors and pilots. He had to have gotten a lot of help from the Japanese navy and Japanese naval historians (I didn't peruse the bibliography). In this regard, I have to give high praise! ( )

Using extensive research and veteran interviews, Tillman shares the ins and outs of life aboard an aircraft carrier that fought in the Pacific Ocean Theater.

Actually didn't finish it. Listened to part of the book on CD. Is probably more appealing to a true war history buff, but for me, it was too many dates, facts and lists of names, lists of equipment, etc and not enough "human interest factor". I was going to push through and finish it, but opted not to. ( )

Finished February 2015 ( )