RAF Wings over Florida: Memories of World War II British Air Cadets. By Will Largent. (West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 2000. ix, 258 pp. Acknowledgments, editors note, introduction, appendix, bibliography, index. $24.95 cloth.) Continuing interest in the myriad aspects of the Second World War has brought about a proliferation of personal recollections during the last decade, and RAF Wings over Florida brings together accounts provided by RAF cadets who underwent flight training in the Sunshine State between 1941 and 1945. The idea of training British pilots in the United States grew out of closer Anglo-American collaboration following the passage of the Lend-Lease Act in 1941 and was given specific shape by Henry H. (Hap) Arnold, the Commander General of the U.S. Army Air Corps, whose proposal was authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt. The "Arnold Plan" envisioned providing primary flight training for cadets at six sites in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. Under the relatively favorable flying conditions in these southern states, British students could be rapidly trained by contracted civilian instructors. In Arcadia, Florida, Arcadia's Carlstrom Field, already the site of primary training for American air cadets, became the new home for ninety-nine British cadets in May 1941. In September, a second group arrived at Riddle Field in Clewiston where an additional training center had been rapidly constructed. RAF Wings over Florida chronicles the challenges that cadets faced in the course of flight training and their reactions to the largely alien society and environment of Florida. Judging by the accounts provided by the British cadets, there was a remarkable uniformity to their experiences and responses. At Carlstrom, an "Arnold Plan" training center, the cadets were subject to Army Air Corps discipline and rules that many found annoying and even degrading. Coming from a nation that had been at war for nearly two years, few British students had much tolerance for regulations and practices that they saw as at best trivial and at worst demoralizing. Those who trained at Riddle, which was organized as a British Flying Training School, were not subject to the West Point codes of conduct and hazing that baffled their countrymen at Carlstrom. If memories of the U.S. military system and the civilian flight instructors were not always positive, recollections of the material abundance in the still neutral United States were universal; the cadets absolutely marveled at the amount, variety and quality of foodstuffs they were offered. All were equally gratified by the enthusiastic reception afforded by Floridians who sought to accommodate the British fliers in every way possible. For many, the single most unsettling aspect of their time in Florida was observing the degrading treatment dispensed to black Floridians in an age of Jim Crow. The personal recollections that comprise a significant portion of this book also include accounts of wartime experiences following graduation and return to the European theater. RAF Wings over Florida is a logically organized work, devoting separate chapters to the background of the training plan, cadet recollections of Carlstrom and Riddle Field, impressions of the "Yanks" instructors, and relations with Floridians. The author's purpose of producing a memorial history rather than a comprehensive "official" account of the RAF cadets is well accomplished. One comes away from this neatly produced volume with a clear understanding as to the genesis, nature, and implementation of the RAF training program. Perhaps as importantly, the recollections of the individuals involved afford considerable insight into the personal dimensions of a specific wartime experience, which brought two soon-to-be-allied peoples into close proximity for a brief but nonetheless memorable time. The personal narratives presented here are well written and offer insight into the whole range of experiences encountered by student pilots training in a friendly but distinctly alien environment, which brought innumerable unexpected challenges. An entertaining appendix dealing with linguistic difficulties relating to pronunciation, dialect, and slang terms includes an illuminating incident in which a Sarasota high school girl, on meeting her RAF cadet dinner date, announced to the young man that she had hardly eaten all day and now only wanted "to get stuffed." Misapprehending her intention, the delighted student pilot suggested that they retire immediately to his room. Incorporating both the humorous and serious aspects of the British cadet experience, RAF Wings over Florida is a solid account of a small corner of the Second World War. Review by BLAINE T. BROWN, Broward Community College