On Wave and Wing

The 100 Year Quest to Perfect the Aircraft Carrier

By: Barrett Tillman

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

What defended the US after the attack on Pearl Harbor, defeated the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and is an essential tool in the fight against terror? Aircraft carriers.

For 70 years, these ships remained a little-understood cornerstone of American power. In his latest book, On Wave and Wing, Barrett Tillman sheds light on the history of these floating leviathans and offers a nuanced analysis of the largest man-made vessel in the history of the world.

©2017 Barrett Tillman (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Go Navy

I am a United States Navy Veteran that deployed three times on three different aircraft carriers. the nostalgia of hearing about your ships before and after you were aboard them and the aircraft that I maintained, was unexpectedly heart warning. I will most likely listen again to sr if I can retain some of the many facts and stories this book was filled with. Have I been saying Oriskany wrong all these years, I don't know.

How come readers of the story cannot pronounce words?!

The fact that this guy can’t say Grumman and Oriskany are just two of many words that he cannot pronounce yet he’s reading a story about Naval aviation. Obviously he has no interest in naval aviation or history because he is mispronouncing words that people who study and are into Naval aviation history know. He can’t pronounce Tarawa, he can’t pronounce Tinian and several other words. And while it’s a great story and he does have a great voice his lack of knowledge and lack of pronunciation makes it very offputting

100th Anniversary of the Aircraft Carrier

This book provides an overview of the history of the aircraft carrier. The first plane to launch from a ship was in 1910. The first carrier was launched one hundred years ago in 1917. Tillman proceeds to tell us about the changes to the carrier that have occurred over the past one hundred years. This is a good review to provide a prospective to the current debate regarding the carrier. Has its cost and size gotten too big? Are smaller and more carriers better?


The book is well written and researched. Tillman covers the carrier, the planes and the key battles fought by carriers over the years. Tillman is a well-known naval historian. What country had the first carrier? I am not going to tell; you will need to read the book. You will be surprised by the answer.

The book is nine and a half hours long. Peter Berkrot does a good job narrating the book. Berkrot is an actor, voice-over artist and award-winning audiobook narrator.

Good history detracted by annoying narration

Narration does not sound serious.

This makes it difficult to listen to and absorb.

Would be better narrating Ripley’s Believe it or not, or celebrity lifestyles.

Good but leave out personal political opinions.

Great book that drove into the history and gave lots of facts. Tended to bash and state opinions on Republican administration's negatively. Could have done without that. Otherwise, very good book.