Thank you  Pelican Publishing
for providing me with a book to review, free of charge.
These are my own honest opinions.

My husband and I are history geeks. We love to learn more the past, how people lived, how major events shaped the world, etc. My husband is particularly fascinated by military history, especially World War II history, and reads pretty much anything he can get his hands on that is related to that topic which is why he was happy to help me with this review.

If you love history, you probably understand that it is one thing to read statistics and facts about a battle or an event but it is entirely another to discover what it was like from a person who was actually there and lives to tell the tale. That’s why biographies are so interesting to read, especially when you already know a lot about the background.

Mark Magruder is the author of Nightfighter: Radar Intercept Killer. The book is about his father, Col. Marion Milton Magruder, US Marine Corps, and his experience as an aviation commander during WWII. Magruder shares with us information about his father’s pre-military life, his training, his mother’s role as a Marine Corps Officer’s wife. This makes the story multi-dimensional and even more interesting because it isn’t just about facts, it’s about how the war impacted an entire family. 

Magruder was able to get facts directly from his father and men in his squadron, also known as Black Mac’s Killers, which adds to the credibility of his book. He was also able to compile lots of details and share information that was previously confidential about the training and missions of nightfighers in the Pacific during WWII. Col. Magruder’s squadron became one of the most successful nightfighter squadrons. He is actually the one who set up the U.S. Naval Radar Intercept program.

It was interesting to find out more about the role of a nightfighter. I didn’t realize that these men were flying under extreme conditions: pitch black skies, totally depending on the information and communication received from the staff on the ground. Every mistake or problem with the plane could quickly become a life-and-death situation.

My husband mentioned that he liked that Magruder included a lot of dialogues which are often missing in biographies. The fact that Col. Magruder was on General Mitchell’s staff at the beginning of the war allows Magruder to include a lot of the background information about the war and how things were developing. There are also references to other major events happening at the same time which gives the reader a great perspective on the chronology of events.

Another thing that distinguishes this book from other biographies is that Magruder took care to include lots of photos and divided them into chapters as they were relevant to the story (many biographies include all photos in one section of the book, without linking them to the story). The only thing that my husband commented on that he would have liked to see more of, are maps.

A major point is that the book was not written to glorify Col. Magruder. Facts, good and bad, are reported in an informative yet entertaining way. You can tell Col. Magruder played an important role in the war but he is never portrayed as a superhero, he’s just a man who did his duty.

This book turned out to be a very good biography on a lesser-known topic of WWII. It’s easy to read and when you start reading, it’s hard to put it down. Magruder was able to write a book that contains novel information, even for people who know a lot about WWII, and yet keep it interesting and full of action.

Buy It: Head over to Amazon.com or Amazon.ca to purchase your copy of Nightfighter: Radar Intercept Killer.

Connect: Don’t forget to visit Mark Magruder’s website Nightfighter RIK for additional information about the author, the book, Col. Magruder. There are also photos and links to videos.

Win It: Pelican Publishing is  is generously offering two of our lucky readers a hardcover copy of Nightfighther: Radar Intercept Killer. The giveaway is open to US and Canada. The giveaway will end August 7th. For your chance to win, enter the Giveaway Tools below. Good luck!

Rachel