Once Upon A Time: At Area 51

This was the second of two books that I bought for my husband (see "OXCART Convoy"). He told me that this was a better effort, but still not acceptable. At least this time, the book sorta has a table of contents (no page numbers). His biggest negative is aimed directly at the author's Forward. The author implies that since he was actually there in Area 51, his narrative automatically trumps the narrative of all the other authors, because they tell stories about "...a place they never set foot upon, about things they never witnessed, telling only what someone else might have told them". Since this statement is coming from the Historian of the Roadrunners Internationale, my husband's expectations were very high for a detailed, thorough, well written account about the Project OXCART activities at Area 51. Sadly, this is not the case. Fourteen pages are "wasted" on a declassified CIA report that could have been downloaded. Eight other pages of unrelated material at the book's end is also taking up space, like the author didn't know what else to write about. The photo captions are still primitive and uninformative. And who is Murphy Green, anyway (page 27)?

If you are interested in Area 51 and the Oxcart project, you will love this book. Frank Murray flew the A12s out of Area 51, and is an extremely sharp gentleman. You will enjoy this book!

Fascinating look at the origins of the A-12/ SR71 program, from a Pilot who was there, and flew them.

Great Book. Frank does a great job and keep everything moving along. Good read!!

Fills in the pieces

Entirely interesting and informative

Fantastic story, even more fantastic man who wrote it. I was lucky enough to spend some time with this true american hero, and got to enjoy a lot of stories about the men who risked everything to fly these machines. Highly recommended

Got the book directly from Frank Murray, and it is AWESOME! This is the stuff spy movies are made of, and Frank actually lived it! Don't worry, no truly classified information is revealed, but most of OXCART stuff has been declassified by now, so if you want to know what REALLY went on - read up!

Despite having an interest in aviation matters I found this book rather dull.