More than half of the U.S.’s aircraft losses in Europe in World War II were due to German antiaircraft artillery, and many of the American aircraft shot down by Luftwaffe fighters had first been driven out of formation by flak and made easy prey for the fighters. A world away in the Pacific, American flak guns aboard naval ships formed the last line of defense against Japanese kamikazes. Historian Donald Nijboer relies on firsthand accounts, newly discovered files, photos, diagrams, and maps to reveal the forgotten contribution of flak in World War II, from doctrine and tactics to combat stories on the ground and in the air about what it was like to fly into the teeth of antiaircraft fire.

Donald Nijboer is a best-selling aviation author, historian, documentary writer-producer, and Smithsonian speaker. He is the author of B-29 Superfortress vs. Ki 44 Tojo 1945; Fighting Cockpits; Air Combat 1945; The Illustrated History No 126 Wing RCAF D-Day to VE-Day; Spitfire Mk V vs. C.202 Folgore; Gloster Meteor vs. V-1 Flying Bomb; Seafire vs. A6M Zero; P-38 Lightning vs. Ki 61 Tony; No 126 Wing RCAF; and Graphic War: The Secret Aviation Drawings and Illustrations of World War II, and is co-author with photographer Dan Patterson of Cockpit: An Illustrated History of World War II Aircraft Interiors; Gunner: An Illustrated History of World War II Aircraft Turrets and Gun Positions; Cockpits of the Cold War; and B-29 Combat Missions and Fighting Cockpits. Currently he is writing and producing full-length aviation documentaries for the online broadcaster Aerocinema.com. He has also written articles for Flight Journal, Aviation History, The Aviation Historian and Aeroplane Monthly. He lives in Toronto, Canada.