On accepting the brief for Bombs Away from General 'Hap' Arnold, Steinbeck wrote to his wife 'It's a tremendous job I've taken on and I have to do it well.' The author spent around a month at 20 airfields, spending time with the men of the bomber crews. The finished work is a remarkable piece of journalism and the most elaborate treatment of Steinbeck's so called 'phalanx' theory: his interest in what happens when people work together as a collective.