Michel III., Marshall L./Laurier, Jim (Illustr.) Operation Linebacker II 1972. The B-52s are sent to Hanoi

After the failed April 1972 invasion of South Vietnam and the heavy U.S. tactical bombing raids in the Hanoi area, the North Vietnamese agreed to return to the Paris peace talks, yet very quickly these negotiations stalled. In an attempt to end the war quickly and "persuade" the North Vietnamese to return to the negotiating table, President Nixon ordered the Air Force to send the U.S.' ultimate conventional weapon, the B-52 bomber, against their capital, Hanoi. Bristling with the latest Soviet air defense missiles, it was the most heavily defended target in Vietnam. Taking place in late December, this campaign was soon dubbed the "Christmas Bombings." Using specially commissioned artwork and maps, ex-USAF fighter colonel Marshall Michel describes Linebacker II, the climax of the air war over Vietnam, and history's only example of how America's best Cold War bombers performed against contemporary Soviet air defenses.

Using contemporary photographs, colour illustrations and maps, Marshall Michel III, himself a former jet fighter pilot, describes Operation Linebacker II, the climax of the air war over Vietnam, and the only example in the history of the war in which America's best and heaviest Cold War bombers fought against the then newest Soviet anti-aircraft weapons, which formed the most important part of the air defence of the North Vietnamese capital.