Customer Reviews

Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Living History)

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This is my favorite book on the '109, and I've seen many. It has great photographs of two restored 109's. One is the Mark Hanna restored G-10 on the cover, and the other is a G-2 tropical. My favorite are the closups of the 2,000 HP DB 605D engine showing the huge supercharger and cannon. Also of note are the stories and modern reunion photographs of two aces with this plane, one being #2 ace Gunther Rall. Fantastic. To sum up, a great picture book, but with good text (14 large page small print history at front of book)...not comprehensive as far as blow by blow combat accounts, but a great look at a great plane. Thanks.

I picked this book up on a whim (and also based on how cheap it is - $15.95 NEW? That's unbelievable!), because I'm a computer flight-sim geek who just "enlisted" with an online squadron flying 109s. I wanted to get a good history of the craft in order to bolster my understanding of the plane I'll be spending the majority of my virtual time in.

All I can say is - wow. This book well exceeded my expectations. It has an incredibly detailed 16-page textual history of the Bf109, from its conception in 1934, through its final flights with the Luftwaffe in 1945, followed by almost 40 pages of full-color photographs of some restored 109s both on the ground and in the air. There is a close-up photo of the 109's cockpit, which really helped me to appreciate the cockpit I see all the time in my flight sim. There are several photos of a gentleman dressed out in typical Luftwaffe flight gear, going through the pre-flight checklist and taking off. Very cool.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this plane.

Incidentally, this is No.5 in the "Living History" series of books. Other aircraft featured are the P51 Mustang, P47 Thunderbolt, the Spitfire, and the B-17, B-24 and Lancaster bombers. Based on the quality of this book, I plan on picking up the rest of the series.

This excellent book consists of two parts: The text, written by Ron Dick (including a preface by Dan Patterson), and the photographs, which were taken by Dan Patterson. Both combine to present a vivid presentation of one of the most famous aircraft of the Second World War.
Ron Dick's text covers the design, development, and production of every prototype and variant deployed on every front the 109 saw action. His writing is clear and precise, and does not get bogged down in complicated technical details. He also includes nicely done, descriptive biographies on Luftwaffe aces Erich Hartmann and Günther Rall, among others. Dick compares and contrasts the different flying styles of 109 pilots like the stalker/hunter Hartmann, and the free-spirited, dogfighting approach taken by Hans-Joachim Marseilles in North Africa.
After the text, the photographs taken by Dan Patterson take you to the end of the book. Patterson does not just take pictures with his camera. A pilot himself, he takes photographs from the perspective of a ground crewman or pilot, and the mood he creates in portraying everything about the 109 is nothing less than spectacular.
Two 109s are photographed, an 'F' in North Africa colors and a 'G' series variant in European Grey. No other book I've read has given me so up close and personal a view of a World War Two airplane. All books about aircraft should be this good!!!