# Is "The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany" by Stephen E. Ambrose a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose (Simon & Schuster, 2001) is identified by: First edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. US true first (Simon & Schuster, 2001).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page
- Issued in quarter cloth over boards at roughly 299 pages; a very large first printing was run, so identify the first by the number line rather than by scarcity
- The printed price should be present on the front jacket flap
- Publisher imprint reads Simon & Schuster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen E. Ambrose |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year | 2001 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Issued in quarter cloth over boards at roughly 299 pages; a very large first printing was run, so identify the first by the number line rather than by scarcity. The printed price should be present on the front jacket flap.

## Is this the true first?
US true first (Simon & Schuster, 2001).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book-club edition displaces the trade first; identify the first by the number line ending in 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany* by Stephen E. Ambrose a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-wild-blue-the-men-and-boys-who-flew-the-b-24s-over-germa
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.