Dive Bomber [Hardcover]

Peter Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1982

For many, it is a dive bomber that conjures the most dramatic, quintessential image of World War II: a screaming German Stuka hurtling toward the ground as part of the frightening blitzkrieg that opened the war. In this illustrated history of dive bombers from around the world, Peter C. Smith takes the reader from the earliest experiments in 1910, through the planes first operations, to their eventual emergence as effective tools of aerial warfare during World War II. With its large number of photographs, diagrams, and tables, this book presents a fascinating and authoritative piece of aviation history.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter C. Smith has written more than thirty books on military history, including Fist from the Sky (9780811733304) and Massacre at Tobruk (9780811734745). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press; 1st Ed.(U.S.) edition (December 1982)
• ISBN-10: 0870219308
• ISBN-13: 978-0870219306
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,434,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really liked this book, January 29, 2010

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dive Bomber! (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

The dive bomber was an important weapon of World War 2, whether it was the Stukas of the Blitzkrieg, the dreaded Vals of Pearl Harbor, or the Helldivers that sank the greatest battleships in the Japanese Imperial Fleet. This book is a very good history of dive bombers and dive bombing, from the discovery of the tactic during World War 1, through to the end of World War 2. Along the way, the reader is treated to a fair number of black-and-white pictures and illustrations.

I must admit, when I first saw this book, I was intrigued by the subject. Well, I found the book to be a very informative look at dive bombers and dive bombing, covering many eras and countries. The author did a good job of keeping me interested, while he told his story of this interesting chapter in military aviation. I really liked the book, and am very glad that I read it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable History about WWII Era Bombers, May 22, 2011

By 

Three if by Space (Mount Stucco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dive Bomber! (Stackpole Military History Series) (Paperback)

A reasonable history of the Dive Bomber, with slight over-focus on the failure of the RAF. (The conclusions of a couple whole chapters can be summed up: The top RAF brass stubbornly ignoring the Dive Bomber, while other countries had years before proved it worked very well.) There's a nice mix of plane descriptions, pilots, research, and personalities. Smith's references are all English language sources, so the insight into Italian, German and especially the Japanese airforces is tenuous. The most disappointing omission is the post-WWII period, only a few pages in total are devoted to several wars. The crucial period where Dive Bombers began to be replaced by guided missiles is barely mentioned.