Tillman, Barrett. Above and Beyond: The Aviation Medals of Honor.

Smithsonian Institution Press, 750 Ninth St., NW, Washington, DC 20560-0950. 2002. 294 pp. Ill. $29.95.

One of several recent works on the Medal of Honor and its recipients, this book describes the history and events surrounding those medals from WW I to the Vietnam War. Barrett Tillman uses his considerable knowledge and writing skills to make Above and Beyond more than just another recounting of heroic tales and citations earning America's highest military award. His light, occasionally acerbic style assimilates the hard facts and puts a personal face on each account.

The Medal of Honor and its complicated award procedures have had occasionally murky parameters and standards, and Tillman describes this less-than-perfect aspect of the medal. Delving deeply into what groups of aircrews received the greatest number of medals, he suggests that politics sometimes affected whether the medal went to one individual in one theater of operations but not to another equally deserving candidate in another area of war.

From an editorial standpoint, the text has more than its fair share of typos, specifically lower-case initials where capitals should be, such as "flying Tigers," and photos are mainly portraits of the men involved. Some representative views of the aircraft types would have been useful.

The chronological text is broken up into sections on specific services. There are the well-known stories, but many less familiar experiences lift the narrative out of the traditional fact-by-fact style found in other such books. Again, the difference is this author's punchy style and analysis which hold interest. All in all, a good read and a different treatment on an important subject.

By Cdr. Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret.)