Barrett Tillman grew up on an Oregon wheat and cattle ranch, where he was  exposed to agricultural aircraft at an early age. He learned to fly at age  16 in 1965 and became involved in restoration and flying antique aircraft.  With his father he owned and operated two WW II navy planes: an N3N-3  biplane trainer and a Douglas SBD-5 dive bomber. The latter led to his first  book, an operational history of the Dauntless. Graduating from the University of Oregon with a journalism degree in  1971, Tillman worked full-time as a freelance writer. In addition to 32 books, he has also written some 500 magazine articles. He founded Champlin  Museum Press in Mesa, Arizona, in 1982, and served as managing editor of The  Hook magazine in San Diego 1986-89. Since 1990 Tillman has been a full-time writer and novelist. His work  has been honored with five awards for history, biography, and literature

Dauntless (Bantam, hardcover, 412 pgs, 1992)

Intended as the first in a trilogy, Dauntless was published in time for the 50^th anniversary of the historic Battle of Midway, which determined that Imperial Japan would not win the Pacific War. Barrett Tillman’s intimate familiarity with the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber is showcased in this extremely accurate novel, “researched” in part via the Dauntless he restored and flew with his father. Ensign Phillip “Buck” Rogers, Marine Lt. Jim Carpenter, and Japanese Flight Petty Officer Hiroyoshi Sakaida cross paths at Midway and during the long, bitter Guadalcanal campaign flying SBDs, Gruman Wildcats, and a variety of floatplanes, respectively. The exceptional realism of Dauntless has led it to be called “The Killer Angels of WW II.”

Hellcats (Brassey’s, hardcover, 438 pgs, 1996)

The sequel to Dauntless takes up the story of Rogers, Carpenter, and Sakaida, in early 1944 and follows their fortunes until VJ-Day. By then, Rogers is an air group commander flying F6F Hellcats, while his flight school classmate, Jim Carpenter, is executive officer of a Marine F4U Corsair squadron. Sakaida has transferred from floatplanes to carrier fighters, surviving the Marianas Turkey Shoot, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and finishes the war with a land-based unit in China. Though Hellcats was nominated as Military Novel of the Year, it received no support from its publisher and was not well distributed, so its availability is welcomed by readers on three continents who missed it before.

Sold Out!!

The Sixth Battle (Bantam, mass market paperback, 560 pgs, 1992)

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian federation co-ordinates a multi-national invasion of South Africa for economic rather than political reasons. Because of the “rightsizing” of US armed forces, the only means of opposing the seaborne invasion is a US Navy carrier battle group and a small amphibious readiness group in the Indian Ocean. President Buddy Callaway and Rear Admiral Chuck Gideon orchestrate a desperate campaign to save the new South African government despite political opposition. The title derives from the carrier versus carrier battle between USS Langley and Russian flattops in a high-tech shootout that accurately describes the spectrum of modern air combat.

Warriors (Bantam, trade paperback 385 pgs and mass market paperback, 432 pgs, 1990)

Retired Navy Commander John Bennett is hired to recruit and train a Saudi Arabian air defense force flying the awesome Northrop F-20 Tigershark. Literally starting from the ground up, Bennett and his hand-picked team of former USN, USMC, USAF and RAF instructors select qualified Saudi youngsters for the purely professional “Tiger Force,” free of political or governmental influence. The organization is necessarily committed to combat before training is completed, but proves Bennett’s advocacy of small, simple fighter aircraft. The climax occurs when Saudi Arabia is drawn into a regional war between Israel and other Arab nations, resulting in events that few people could foresee.

Published two months before Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Warriors became an immediate best seller. Tom Clancy said, “This is the most intelligent thriller I’ve seen this year.”

U. S. Navy Fighter Squadrons in World War II (Specialty Press, Hard Cover, 159 pages, 1997)

Book Ordering Information

Barrett's Favorite Links