My introduction to the oversquare world was in reading the book, "Charles Lindbergh's Wartime Diaries".
Lindbergh had been sent to the South Pacific as a representative of Lockheed and Consolidated aircraft companies to advise on the operation of their aircraft. He actually flew combat missions (as a civilian) and was surprised to hear so many of the other pilots declaring fuel emergencies when he still had plenty of fuel.
On investigation he found that none of the pilots had been instructed in long range cruise techniques (some things don't ever change) so his first job was to set up a lecture on the subject. He taught that you should set the lowest RPM with the highest MP (remember, most of these aircraft had automatic mixture control). It was only after his tour that the USAAF was able to undertake the mission to shoot down Admiral Yamamoto's aircraft.
I have to admit that when I first read the book I thought it was all wrong. It wasn't until I started reading John Deakin's articles (over and over until I understood them) and talked to Douggie Spriggs at Arkaroola (who has one of the most amazing libraries on all things aviation mechanical I have ever seen) that the light went on. As an aside it was Doug who arranged for George Braly to come to Australia to give evidence to the Coroner's Inquiry into the Whyalla Airlines crash (and didn't that put some noses out of joint).