Barrett Tillman lays out the operational history of the SBD in World War two from Pearl Harbor until the Dauntless was phased out of carrier service in mid 1944 and replaced by the SB2C Helldiver. There is also a "tip of the hat" to post 1944 Dauntless operations from land bases.

The book was published by the Naval Institute Press in 1976 so it is heavy on accounts of the men who flew the aircraft. Research has clarified some facts in the intervening nearly half century, but all in all an excellent account of the aircraft and the men who flew it.