From Tokyo to Berlin, WSU art graduate Ross Greening painted and wrote a one-of-kind record of action in WWII. Entering combat in April 1942, he piloted a B-25 in the Doolittle bombing raid on Japan and designed the special bomb-sight used during the mission.A year later Greening's plane was shot down over Italy's erupting Mt. Vesuvius. Held captive by Axis forces for eleven weeks, he escaped when Allied bombers blew up the prison train he was riding in. Although Italian villagers helped him evade recapture for more than six months, German soldiers eventually caught up with the American officer and two companions in their mountain cave hideaway.

In a stalag in Barth, Germany, Greening continued sketching, painting, and writing about his own and other airmen's experiences. Near the war's end, the Allied prisoners seized control of the camp and Greening's invaluable items were safely brought out.

Greening later recorded his story on Dictaphone and in writing, preserving a remarkably accurate telling of his WWII adventures. A compilation of these accounts, the narrative in Not as Briefed is riveting. Greening's observations on the nature of war are sensitive, moving, and deep-felt. When combined with photographs and his superb artwork, the result is a stunning visual and written record of WWII.