Skunk Works covers Ben Rich's years working at Lockheed's Skunk Works, starting with the development of the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft, then going back to talk about earlier projects. Interspersed with Rich's memories are the memories of others involved in the projects. This is all great. However, the entire end of the book, plus the epilogue, is dedicated to "What a Skunk Works-like development team can do for you!" and "Why you need Skunk Works!". There was no new information and, while Ben Rich's memories were timeless, his opinions and the opinions of others on what is important in military R&D felt dated 30 years after the book was written.

This was definitely not a book that could be summarized by a few bullet points, since it is very much about the various characters and their struggles to get these planes built. I think the little details are what make the stories so compelling.

On the flip side, these are a bunch of good ol' boys working with other good ol' boys in their offices with pin-up pictures on the walls and drinking some whiskey with the guy from the Air Force before the meeting. There is no mention of women in the book as anything other than spouses who were at home while the men were doing the interesting work. Also, it is very "Rah, rah! Yay, America!!", which is fine, but not especially nuanced.

Should you read this book? If you can handle the male-dominated, pro-America culture, then you'll probably find the first 3/4 of the book compelling. Once he starts trying to sell you on the idea of Skunk Works and why you need one, you can stop reading and not miss much, in my opinion.