Chickenhawk is a frank account of the life of an army helicopter pilot, from his time in basic training until the end of his time in Vietnam.
Robert Mason writes with great skill about his personal experiences and is not afraid to be brutally honest. As a result, Chickenhawk is a wonderful and refreshing read.
Mason gives some wonderful insights into every detail of both army life and helicopter piloting. He explains the physics behind keeping a chopper in the air in a way that is detailed without being boring and goes on to give you a real feeling of just how difficuly it actually is.
His writing on the army side of life is just as detailed and surprisngly emotional. Helped by his honesty in matters such as his infidelity, you feel that you are getting a full and unwashed look at exactly what he has been through. You also get some fascinating insights into the way the soldiers lived during the Vietnam war. Little things like talking about using helicopter fuel in an old food can filled with sand to make a burner for warming up coffee, these details are what make the book.
His return from Vietnam, and the repsonse he recieves from people he felt proud to be fighting for is one of the most powerful things I've read and this book gives an angle to the war, and the soldiers, that no other book I've read has provided before.
I read Tony Hawkes first two non-fiction books many years ago and then read only fiction since then until I discovered Chickenhawk and it's reignited the love of non-fiction in me again.
I was given the book by a friend so I'm afraid I cannot comment on price or availability as I've had no first hand experience. I believe he bought it from the internet.
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