Book: So, I bought an air force

I am at odds to describe my opinion, because any book that deals with Latin American aviation is a welcome addition to our libraries and personal collections. But… (yes, there is a but…)

The book “So, I Bought an Air Force” by W.W. Martin is interesting as an insight into -if nothing else- the corruption of the Somoza regime, the author’s opinion on the ineptitude and corruption of Nicaraguan Air Force -FAN- personnel -both officers and mechanics- and gives us a little peek into life at the time in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It also dwells into the human being’s dishonesty, and we see through its pages, that there are many Latinoamericanos that are corrupt, but so are many Norteamericanos.

The main issues that I have, as an amateur aero-historian, are mostly related to the lack of hard historical data: Dates are very general and aircraft serials and registrations are non-existent. Those two are my peeves for this book.

I liked the images, great quality, many never seen at least by yours truly before now.

Still, I would recommend this book as a very interesting read, although not a data source for the scale modeller or the aero-historian. It does not bring us that “ah!” moment, when we are finally able to complete that missing piece of data, or pin a serial number, or a specific paint scheme.

But there is a lot of information still, descriptions of daily life in Nicaragua, people’s behavior: basicalle, a glimpse into the life back then.

From my e-mail exchanges with the author, I offer this excerpt:

“Dear Mr. Martin,

One of the most important aspects of any historical research, is the personal point of view.  History comes alive when someone who was there describes what it was like, how people behaved, how they dressed, what they did.

This, in my personal opinion, adds the human perspective to history rather than the author’s dry recounting of events, dates and actors when he was not even present when the events took place. This is why I find your book to be a valuable addition to my library.

We all “know” how bad things were during the Somoza regimes, but… do we really?  Your insight makes it better understood.“

Book Details

Title: So, I Bought An Air Force – The True Story of a Gritty midwesterner in Somoza’s Nicaragua
Author: W.W. Martin
Date of publication: 2013
Printed by: Two Harbor Press
ISBN: 978-1-938690-36-5
Structure: Prologue and 31 chapters, plus index; 259 pages, 59 photographs, both B&W and color.

Copies of this book can be purchased from Amazon at very affordable price. Click here to get yours. Also, you can check the book’s website here.