Soaring to Glory: A Tuskegee Airman's Firsthand Account of World War II

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 224 ratings

Price: 13.49

Last update: 02-12-2025


About this item

The valiant fight for freedom in the air and dignity on the ground

He had to sit in a segregated rail car on the journey to army basic training in Mississippi in 1943. But two years later, the 20-year-old African American from New York was at the controls of a P-51, prowling for Luftwaffe aircraft at 5,000 feet over the Austrian countryside. By the end of World War II, he had done something that nobody could take away from him: He had become an American hero.

This is the remarkable true story of Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr., one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Award-winning aviation writer Philip Handleman re-creates the harrowing action and heart-pounding drama of Stewart's combat missions, including the legendary mission in which Stewart downed three enemy fighters.

Soaring to Glory also reveals the cruel injustices Stewart and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen faced during their wartime service and upon return home after the war. Stewart's heroism was not celebrated as it should have been in postwar America - but now, his boundless courage and determination will never be forgotten.


Top reviews from the United States

  • cynthia m hallman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
    Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2023
    Lt. Col. Stewart’s story is inspirational and will forever be front and center thanks to Philip Handleman’s work. Philip’s aviation background, historical knowledge and writing style keeps you engaged throughout the entire read. It is important that we are reminded the sacrifices heroes like Lt. Col. Stewart have made on the wartime and social battlefields. I applaud Philip’s attention spent on the uncomfortable truths the Tuskegee Airmen faced after their heroic acts in the air. All around great read!
  • Gerilyn Nutt
    5.0 out of 5 stars An American hero!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2024
    I bought this for my daughter, and was able to have it signed by Lt. Col. Stewart. He turned 100 y/o this past July 4th, and is still alert and has a million stories. A real hero!
  • William H. Kelley
    5.0 out of 5 stars Courage
    Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2019
    If you are familiar with the work of Philip Handleman, you know that his writing is tight, accurate and evocative. This book surpasses anything that Phillip has written. The story digs into the emotions and struggles of the first African-American pilots in the U.S. Army Air Force through the story of Lt. Col. Harry T. Stewart Jr. This is a book I highly recommend for younger Americans. I am sure that they would be baffled by the fatuous racial barriers of the 1940's. But those barriers were real; this book recounts how the Tuskegee Airmen overcame those barriers with dignity and courage. Beyond that, their flying skills were top notch. They had courage to face adversity and rejection on the ground and courage to face a deadly enemy in the air. The Tuskegee Airman equal or exceed anything else done by the Greatest Generation. Everyone should read this book.
  • DachsPop42
    5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional book about a young man who yearned to fly. And did.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2019
    On a recent Sunday evening, I was watching a program where one of just a few Tuskegee Airmen still surviving was being interviewed about his life experiences and what led him to become a pilot. After listening to him describe what he had to deal with, both in the US Army Air Corps and after the war ended, I decided to order his book.
    Being an Air Force veteran and having knowledge of the background and the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, I assumed the book might be just another war story. It is anything but that. It tells of a young man growing up, his interest in flight, and a desire to do his duty for America during WWII. It is an interesting story of a man who had to deal with prejudice, but throughout his life, he held his head high to become the success he is today. I have had the pleasure of speaking with Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr. several times recently and have gained insight into what makes a true American hero. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read about how African-American men and women contributed to our early flight history, and how their actions and exploits had a lasting impact on the Air Force we have today.
  • GG-MA
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great Information...
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2021
    ..too few photographs
  • Nancy L Lowe
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend reading this book.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023
    Just finished reading this book. Enjoyed it very much. Learned a lot about the history of the Tuskegee Airmen in a very personal way. Highly recommend reading this book.
  • Placeholder
    5.0 out of 5 stars Understand the courage of those who suffered discrimination even during war time.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2019
    Like Harry in the story I was raised in a vacuum. I had no exposure to racism and always took people one at a time. Group stuff is annoying. Group thinking is worse.
    You will enjoy following Harry in his valiant efforts to become an aviatorand help us win WW2 war. Buy it now and you will get a good understanding of the foolishness of discriminating against decent people.
    I was a child during WW2 and did not realize the wickedness of the Jim Crow horror until I was older. As pointed out in the book the press never told us the terrible things done to African Americans. Even when I was a youngster in the Army I never understood what I saw as crazy behavior by both blacks and Southern whites. It was not until MLK came along that I was shocked into understanding this awful scourge on America. I knew about slavery but I thought that was over.
    It was very interesting reading abut the various planes that were in development during WW2.
    Ironically I saw Harry Stewart, the subject of the book, in a Cspan 2 program just this past weekend at the Nixon library. He is in his 90s and is quite a guy. He had a huge audience.
  • Donald Worrell
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Exciting Story of One the Last Surviving Members of the Tuskegee Airmen
    Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2019
    As an aviation buff I’ve long enjoyed Philip Handleman’s books, some of which he co-authored with the legendary Walter J. Boyne.
    I would have to say that “Soaring to Glory” is certainly among Mr. Handleman’s most enriching books as it focuses on an often overlooked group of American heroes, the Tuskegee Airmen, African-American pilots who fought valiantly against the Germans
    in World War II. Specifically this is the story of 95 year old Lt. Col. Harry T. Stewart Jr, one of only a dozen living Tuskegee Airmen.
    Stewart received his air combat training at Walterboro Army Airfield in South Carolina. He went on to fly on 43 combat missions over enemy territory. He successfully overcame two enemies, racism and the Nazis. Handleman weaves these two themes with great finesse while at the same time tossing in some very useful technical information about various aircraft. “Soaring to Glory” has received high praise from critics infinitely more eminent than I, including the eminent Harvard historian, Henry Louis Gates Jr.
    I highly recommend this outstanding book to readers from high school age on up. It is truly a classic.

    • Best Sellers in

     
     

    Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present

    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 6,569
    18.05
     
     

    The Wealth of Nations

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,981
    22.57
     
     

    Washington: A Life

    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 8,186
    36
     
     

    The Pursuit of Power: Europe: 1815-1914

    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 688
    30.09
     
     

    Mutiny on the Bounty

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 670
    21.31
     
     

    Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined

    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 8,963
    18.42
     
     

    How Democracies Die

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 6,157
    15.75
     
     

    Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force

    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 5,089
    19.1