1940s 1950s action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-fueled adrenaline-rush adultery adventure aerial aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare air-combat air-force airborne aircraft airplane airplanes ambition american-dream american-literature army army-life atmospheric aviation aviators beautiful-prose bestseller betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie captivating character-development character-driven character-study classic combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict corruption courage danger dangerous-missions death desire despair destiny determination discipline discrimination dogfights drama dreams duty elite emotional emotions endurance escapism espionage evocative excitement exhilarating exhilaration existential existentialism fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilot fighter-pilots fighter-planes flying forbidden-love friendship friendships grief gripping gritty gritty-realism hardship haunting hawaii hawaiian-islands heroes heroism historical-fiction honolulu honor hunters hunting iconic identity infantry infidelity injustice intense intensity introspection introspective james james-salter japanese-attack korean-war leadership life literary literary-fiction literature loss love love-affairs love-story love-triangle loyalty machismo male-bonding male-friendships masculinity military military-fiction military-life moral-dilemmas morality mortality narrative novel obsession pacific-theater passion passionate pearl-harbor perseverance pilot pilots poetic poignant post-war power power-dynamics prose psychological psychological-exploration psychological-impact pulitzer-prize pursuit racism redemption relationships resilience risk risk-taking rivalries rivalry romance sacrifice salter self-discovery skill soldier soldiers squadron strategy struggle success survival suspense suspenseful teamwork tension testosterone the-hunters thrill thrill-seeking thriller thrillers thrilling tragedy tragic training trauma triumph victory vietnam vietnam-war violence visceral vivid-imagery war war-fiction war-novel war-story world-war-ii wwii