Customer Reviews

Consolidated B-24 Liberator - Warbird Tech Vol. 1

However, the one thing the book rather skimps on is, uh, the Liberator. After 20 pages of covering what most people think of when they think Liberator (bomber, twin tails, built in really large numbers) it wanders off to spend almost as many pages on the single-tail YB-24N (number built - seven) then goes on to cover the use of B-24s in refuellling trials, spends the best part of thirty pages on the C-87 cargo model, and finishes off on the Privateer. The color section is split roughly 50/50 between the Liberator and other versions, although about 75% of the pictures of wartime B-24s seem to have been included because of their typically curvaceous noseart.

Don't get me wrong, this is a well-written book that gives the impression of being solidly researched. It's probably quite a nice supplement to the library of someone who has a collection of B-24 books. However, unlike most of the other titles in the Warbirdtech series, which actually cover the aircraft specified in their title, you get the impression here that somehow the main section of the book is missing and has been replaced with a quick filler chapter instead.

So...if you're looking for a good history of the B-24 this *isn't* the book for you. If you've already got a good history of the B-24, and want to know more than you ever thought possible about the YB-24N or the seating arrangements in the C-87, this is the book for you.

In the end I give it three stars - the writing and density of content is up to the usual standards of the Warbirdtech series, which'd earn it four, but the title's pretty misleading given the actual content and the fact that the Warbirdtech books often represent the start of somebody's library on a plane, not a late addition. That'd normally earn it a one or a two. So I've compromised, and settled on giving it three stars. That may be a bit generous, even.

Definitely a case where skimming the book before buying would have been a good idea. Caveat emptor, and so forth.