Customer Reviews

The Curtiss P-40: From 1939 to 1945 (Planes and Pilots, 3)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

A superb book with all the profiles that pictured the P40 series in second world war, excelentefor modelists. The book follows the entre life of the model in use by the allies.

Over the past decade, the French Histoire & Collections firm has published volumes on various World War II warbirds - Bf 109, P-51, Hurricane, etc. - characterized by pages and pages of fairly well-done color side-views and execrable text. CURTISS P-40 FROM 1939 TO 1945 is a perfect example. Produced by the writing team of Anis Elbied and Daniel Laurelut and published in 2002, CURTISS P-40 FROM 1939 TO 1945 is both eye candy and a hard slog.

Part of the 'Planes and Pilots' series, the Laurelut/Elbied book details Curtiss' study warhorse model-by model. After a chapter on the P-36/Hawk 75, it examines the P-40 prototypes, P-40CU and P-40B/C, P-40D/E, P-40F, etc. The chapters on the main production models feature a one-two page summary of that aircraft, two-four b&w/color photographs and beaucoup pages of color side-views. The P-40N chapter, for example, has eight pages of profiles depicting some 32 P-40s flown by different units and/or air forces. Generally the profiles seem accurate; likewise, the color schemes. There are also sections on P-40 users, nose art, differences between models, Flying Tiger markings, etc.

The problem, as always, lies in the text. It's poorly done with typos, poor syntax and, especially, run-on sentences. One sentence is a paragraph long! Given the nice job Histoire & Collections did on the artwork, they really should invest in a author and/or translator fluent in the English language and aviation terminology.

So, thumbs up on artwork; thumbs down on text. Recommended with reservations.