Evaluating this book is difficult. It has some very good strengths and some glaring weaknesses. One the one hand, it is an exceptionally well-written and comprehensive account of the Doolittle Raid. Nelson, using a number of interviews, develops fully the personalities of the various veterans on that mission. He is particularly good about doing so with Doolittle who died before he started this project.

On the other hand, there is nothing particularly new about this book. His thesis that the raiders" were the first American heroes of the war is correct but fairly obvious. Nelson has looked at almost no original source material. His interviews were conducted 50 years after the fact and memories fade with time. The organization of the book leaves something to be desired. Nelson gets going with his narrative, then stops to provide background and then the process starts all over again. He often uses the wrong terms. Most glaringly, calling the U.S. Army Air Forces the "Air Corps," an old term that was dropped before Pearl Harbor. In short, if you have read a lot on the war, all of what Nelson has to say will be familiar to you. If not, this might be a good book to read.

Must have seen the movie "30 Sec. Over Tokyo" a dozen times. It was fascinating to read about all the other men involved and what happened AFTER the bombs were dropped. Must read for a WWII buff.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I'd just finished Hornfischer's outstanding "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" and wanted some more inspirational reading. I'm about half finished listening to this book in its MP3 version, and have noted the following:
1) the author has no - and I repeat no - required knowledge of the US Navy. There are many, many small, factual errors that are really annoying - referring to the HMS Repulse as a "cruiser", describing the Japanese torpedoes as "two feet long", etc, etc. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of the US Navy in WW2 should have been given an opportunity to preview this book before publication.
2) Overuse of military jargon - bombs referred to as "cabbages", torpedoes as "eels" by such a rank amateur was just too much.
3) this really doesn't apply to the book itself, but the reader on the MP3 version had no idea regarding correct pronunciation of naval terms - (en-sine, indeed.)
I find that when there are so many factual errors in an area that I'm familiar with, I have a tough time accepting the new - often interesting on its face - data that an author brings up. It's too bad that such a terrific topic couldn't have been treated more professionally. I read "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" as a kid and really was looking for some new information. I blame the editors completely for this second rate attempt.

This book is wonderful! Gives a sense of the courage needed after pearl harbor and how it was met by young americans. Harrowing!
I can't recommend it any more than A MUST READ. I have sent many to soldiers and friends!

Here's a compelling and well told history of the daring Doolittle Raid of 1942. Nelson does a good job recounting America's first offensive action against Japan in WWII.

More of a morale booster for America and a psychological defeat for the Japenese, the raid did little actual damage. It did however prove to the world that the Japanese were vulnerable.

This story of the daring men who went on what amounted to a suicide mission is riveting. Nelson takes us through the training for the ultra secret mission, to the actual raid itself, and the following crash landings in China.

Nelson does a very good job of placing these events in the overall context of WWII and follows the fates of all involved up to the present. A little slow at first, The First Heroes rewards persistence. Recommended for anyone interested in WWII.

The First Heroes by Craig Nelson is a must read for anyone who is interested in history, especially World War Two. It is the story of America's finest pilots getting their first vengeance after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The task seemed impossible: fly bombers off of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific, drop bombs over Tokyo and somehow land in China. The mission didn't go as planned. Only one plane made it to Allied soil and the other 15 crashed in Japanese occupied China, but not before dropping their payload over Japan. It was a daring move but it paid off in the end. The book is full of first hand accounts which bring a sixty year old story back to the present times. It was so good that I read it in about two weeks. It had me from the first page. Instead of focusing on just one main character, Craig Nelson tells the stories of all 100 men involved, giving this unique event many different angles. I only read non fiction books and this one read like a work of fiction, with lots of suspense and surprises at every turn. It shows human suffering and how humans can overcome physical and mental suffering if they have the will to do so. I was also amazed at how the Japanese treated their prisoners of war. They had little respect for anyone who was not their own, something that the western world has a hard time fully understanding. This is a must read for anyone interested in the aviation of the Second World War. Craig nelson weaves an intriguing story.