Great Aircraft of WWII [Hardcover]

Alfred Price (Author), Mike Spick (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Book Sales, Inc. (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785806695
• ISBN-13: 978-0785806691
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,090,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grab-bag of Classic World War II Warbirds!, March 23, 2010

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Aircraft of WWII (Hardcover)

Two noted Btitish aviation historians - Alfred Price and Mike Spick - examine "the six truly outstanding combat aircrfat of World War II' in this 1977 release from Chartwell Books. Classic warbird fans should enjoy this well-illustrated grab-bag tribute to the Spitfire, P-51, Bf 109, Me 262, B-17 and Lancaster.

Price and Spick split the writing duties - Price doing the chapters on the Spit, Bf 109 and Me 262 while Spick handled the sections on the Lanc, P-51 and B-17. The book runs to 328 pages, each chapter running to 64 pages plus or minus. The authors relate the aircraft's development, combat history and post-war career if any. Emphasis is on combat ops rather than nuts-and-bolts. Various air combats are described with some first-person reminiscences included. The book also features some interesting sidebars on related topics.

GREAT AIRCRAFT OF WORLD WAR II is a perfectly serviceable guide to some classic warbirds. I gave the book four stars for two reasons. I question the inclusion of the Me 262. Though it was an astounding technical achievement, it had little effect on the air war and no effect on the outcome of the war. A better candidate might have been the B-29 or even the Mitsubishi Zero. Secondly, the authors didn't include an index.

Lovers of classic warbirds and air combat buffs will want to track down this long-out-of print volume. Recommended.