Customer Reviews

North American B-25 Mitchell

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William Wolf has written some of the most detailed books on American bomber aircraft available. This weighty book continues his series by looking at one of the most versatile weapons in the 1940s American arsenal - the North American B-25 - and is exceptional in the depth of its coverage.

In Part 1 Wolf starts with three short chapters on how North American developed from its inception to a manufacturing company capable of designing and building advanced combat aircraft. Two much lengthier chapters cover the design, development and production of the B-25, setting it fully in the context of late 1930s rearmament and other companies rival designs. Wolf documents how the design evolved from the initial lightly-armed B-25 (without a suffix) through to its final wartime form, the B-25J armed with up to 18 machine guns as well as bombs and rockets. Marine PBJ-1s are covered, as are B-25 transports and the few machines used as VIP transports.

Part 2 comprises 27 chapters and is a tremendously detailed description of the B-25. It examines every aspect of the aircraft from nose to tail. If you want a description of the different types of rivets used to hold it together, and photographs of the rivet guns used to make them, then they are here. Chapters cover the R-2600 engines, electrical systems, photographic equipment, control surfaces, oil system, etc. To give an idea of the level of detail the heating, ventilating and defrosting system is covered by chapter 14 in eight pages, illustrated by three pictures from the B-25J flight manual and three of the author's own pictures.

Part 3 consists of three very long chapters and is a similarly detailed look at the B-25's armament. The various 0.5" turrets, blisters and mountings of the gun armament of the various models are described as well as the famous 75mm cannon carried by the B-25G and H, which alone receives 11 pages. I was particularly interested in the full account of the generally unsuccessful Bendix lower turret with its periscopic sight. This section also covers B-25 ordnance, from standard bombs to more unusual weapons such as parafrags, spike bombs, depth charges and rockets to the (never used operationally) torpedo. The techniques and tactics used to deliver these weapons are discussed. Bombsights and radars are also detailed.

Part 4 discusses in nine chapters the crew duties and stations and how the B-25 was flown - from take-off procedures to landing, stalls, autopilot use and single-engined operations. Chapters also cover how the aircraft was to be abandoned in an emergency.

Part 5 is a overview of B-25 units in the USAAF, Marine PBJ units and foreign operators such as the British, Dutch and even Soviet Union. Three brief appendixes cover the surviving B-25s the author has examined, B-25s in the movies (!) and the three B-25 personnel who received the Medal of Honor.

Physically the book is a well-produced hard back. It is illustrated throughout with many black-and-white pictures, often taken from B-25 flight manuals or other period documents, and a similar number of period or modern colour pictures, many taken by Wolf himself when examining surviving B-25s to illustrate particular pieces of equipment or elements of design. There are also a handful of colour profiles of various B-25s.

Wolf has deliberately scoped his book to examine the B-25 as a machine, covering the rationale for its initial design, how that design evolved, and what its components and armaments were in tremendous detail. He does not cover the operational use of the B-25 (except where such use resulted in changes to the design) so if you are after detailed histories of B-25 units or stories of B-25 aircrew you should look elsewhere.

At 477 pages this book is a tremendous achievement, one that is difficult to fault. It is unmatched as a description of the B-25 and its weaponry and I unreservedly recommend it to anyone interested in the B-25 as an aircraft.

Purely by coincedence (surfing the web for aircraft books ) this book came up and made me curious. As a technician i am in to "nuts and bolts "
Also i am a collector of WW2 aircraft books written of specific aircraft. The B 25 allways inspired me. So i bought it and it is a book 100 % to my taste. All i wanted is in the book; indeed from drawing board to flying arsenal. For anyone interested in the development, production, specs, aircraft systems and even how to fly and handle the B-25, this book is the one you cannot do without. Indeed, the Ultimate Look.

As part of my "Ultimate Look" series on AAF bombers (B-29, B-32, and B-18); this book was written for serious WW-II aviation enthusiats, historians, and modelers to be the ULTIMATE look at the B-25 in 477 pages and over 550 photos (many in color) and drawings plus 25 color profiles. The book was intended to thoroughly examine every facet of the B-25 from its rivets up and not to include operations. It is not a coffee table book for the casual reader that presents basic material that has been often rehashed. There is not another book avilable on the B-25 that includes the detail on the Mitchell which what I intended.

As usual another hit from Schiffer Publishing. There isn't much left out on this complete coverage.Written in an easy to understand way,and often taking the time to explain beyond just the aircraft part being discussed. When you're finished with this book you will be able to give a very complete tour of this aircraft to anyone.

I was very disappointed with this book.I had hoped for more pictures of the complete aircraft and hoped for more operational details,
What I got was pictures and details of rivets etc.
The title of this book IS accurate, but I was hoping for a book more like Jerry Crandell's "FOCKE WULF Fw190 DORA" which is superb.
I just could not beat my way around all those rivets and mechanical drawings.It remains unread on my shelf....

B-25 BOOK TO BE REVIEWED CRITICALLY SINCE AUTHOR HAS USED PREVOIUS RETRACTED AND INITIALLY POSITIVE COMMENTS TO SUGGEST SUPPORT, EVEN THOUGH HE KNOWS THAT I HAVR CITED SEROUS FLAWS AND, UPON FURTHER REVIEW, FOUND IT WANTING. I HAD INTENDED TO FOCUS ON ONE BOOK TO ILLUSTRATE TO THE AUTHOR HOW SERIOUS HIS ERRORS IN HIS OVERALL BODY OF WORK ARE. HE HAS CHOSEN TO POST A PORTION OF AN INITIAL COMMENT ABOUT THIS AND THE B-29 WHEN FIRST ORDERED OR RECEIVED BUT DOES NOT DISCLOSE THAT THIS PRAISE WAS LATER RESCIINDED WHEN MORE WAS KNOWN. THIS BOOK IS NOW SUBJECT OF AN INTENSE REVIEW SINCE THE AUTHOR HAS INJECTED IT INTO THE ONGOING DEBATE OVER THE SHORTCOMINGS OF HIS BOOKS AND HIS CONTINUING REFUSAL TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR ACCEPT ANY RESPONSIBILITY.

The author of this book, and I, were engaged in a heated exchange about failure of another of his works. It began when I revoked my initial positive response to this book and his B-29 book because my comments on the B-29 were an initial response immediately after receipt. I had no expectation of the problems I would later find throughout his various books, which is why I made the mistake of buying several of them at once. Since then, I have come to realize that many of his books have serious deficiencies. In the case of AERIAL ARMAMENT IN WWII, VOL 1 and 2, the problems were so bad that offered to help edit or proof Vol. 3, only to be told he wasn't interested. When I found that Vol. 3 was out and would almost certainly have the same problems, I realized that my initial comments on the B-25 and B-29 were still on the Amazon web page and might be misunderstood as a continuing endorsement. I retracted those endorsements and stated that I would not support Vol. 3, based on what I had found and on the author's refusal to accept any aid. If you look through posts of others whom have disagreed with him in the slightest, or issued even the most moderate criticism, the response is uncalled-for and unprofessional.

I repeatedly advised the author to stop antagonizing me and posting both insults and comments that impugned my own expertise and qualifications. I told him that continued refusal to back off and let it lie would force me to begin posting detailed, point-by-point reviews revealing the many flaws in his books, so that he could no longer deny them or disparage his growing number of critics.

Last evening, he sank to a new low and posted portion of my comments from over a year ago concerning the B-25 and B-29 books, when I did state that I "loved it" for one of them. However, if I was so enthralled with a book I already had, then why was I stating that I would move it up to "an immediate buy"? As I recall, this was written before I even got the book! Perhaps I was talking about the B-25 book that I "just received." Here are my comments as copied directly from his posting of them, for purposes of full disclosure:

"I purchased the book and love it but was trying to find specific info on the type of smoke bomb and launch method used on the B-29, specifically for the CITY OF LOS ANGELES, where an accidental release of the smoke device resulted in serious burns to S/Sgt Erwin, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts to dispose of the device before the plane was destroyed. The weapons are very well documented but the delivery through a chute on the B-29 is not mentioned. Does your B-29 book document this chute, show its location and possibly discuss this incident in any detail. If so, I would definitely move the B-29 book up to an immediate buy.
I also just received your B-25 book and would love to correspond with you, privately, about it, if at all possible."

Well, I DID whatever it was, at first, that is--until I started trying to use it as a reference. Notice that I was telling him I couldn't find this or that. Also, you will note that i asked to correspond in private. If my comments were going to be positive, why would I be asking for private discussions?

Regardless, the two books have both been a disappointment every time I have tried to use them. They just don't have what I needed, and this was just the beginning of what I would later find. On the B-29 whole sections of drawings are printed upside-down because the author does not understand technical drawings

As with all of his other books, it initially LOOKS like there is a huge treasure of data that would be particularly useful to somebody like me, an aviation writer, researcher, military aviation historian and aircraft restorer. However, once you dig deeper, you find things wrong. Confidence erodes and you can't depend upon ANYTHING because the obvious errors create doubt about everything. Photos are out of proper position. There are mistakes. It snowballs.

After the author adopted a confrontational stance and denied the existence of any errors in his books, he went on to suggest I didn't know what I was talking about, that I had an "expert tone" to my comments, and so on. I told him that I would go through all of his books and point out to him, publicly, what was wrong, to prove the points made. I had thought of finding every single error (and we are NOT talking about mere typos, but real, substantive, meaningful errors of fact or misinterpretation), but I decided I would not do his job for him.

I hoped that going through one book and showing him just how bad it really is might shock him into his senses and lead him to realize that he needs to correct these books. No chance. His absolute arrogance makes that impossible and, instead, he just ups the ante with more insults and accusations. He continues to maintain that there is nothing wrong, that anything noted is insignificant, and that his critics number only three people unworthy of serious consideration. As a result, I am continuing to press forward. If that opens the eyes of others and leads to their steering clear of Wolf books, the author has only himself to blame for that.

As I said, I had planned to focus on only one book, to limit the damage as much as possible. However, a little over a day ago, the author again boasted that there were no complaints about his books (plural) except for the unwarranted few complaints by myself, and two others. That is when I decided that I needed to prove the problems certainly are NOT limited to just one book, three obscure critics, and their minor complaints. I opened USAAF JABOS IN THE MTO AND ETO"" and, within 20 minutes, had enough material to provide pages of comments about what was wrong, had been misunderstood, was poorly researched, and so on.

I was going to put that one on hold and come back to VOL 1 AERIAL ARMAMENT to finish its full critique but his latest posts showed that he was trying to distort comments about the B-25 and B-29 books to his advantage. He was also openly dishonest in telling people it was from a "few months ago, " leaving the impression that I had written it much more recently than is the case."

I cannot pretend to be in this individual's head (nor would I ever WANT to go there!) but this strikes me as yet another attempt to undermine credibility and thus deflect growing criticism of his work.

As a result, I will likely have to shift again and do at least a cursory review of both the B-25 and B-29 books before returning to the AERIAL ARMAMENT VOL 1. It won't take long to establish the point that both are seriously flawed. However, I want it known, for the record, that the reason I am including all of these other books and widening the scope of what can prove to be a very damaging is not due to any wish on my part but because this individual keeps dragging his other works into the arena. If he doesn't care about how badly this can hurt his other books, then I will no longer worry about trying to be decent about. All of his books are now fair game. I have had it with trying to be reasonable and using the kid-glove approach.

Finally, I would remind all that I told this individual that he should authorize release of our private correspondence, so that I could prove what he disclosed to me and that he had been made aware of these problems a year ago. He never responded to that but simply tossed more venom. Now, he tries to use past comments to his advantage. That is a definitely a new low. In addition, not once has he ever refuted anything I have documented. He can't. He claims that he wants to focus on his new projects and this is all a waste of his time, but he won't just shut up and go do it. Instead, he keeps stoking the fires and putting more of his work in the spotlight.

As for the B-29 book, I can tell you right off of the top that major sections of drawings of the fuselage interior are completely screwed up.


As for the B-25 book, just as one other of Wolf's apparently meaningless critics stated he had done with his copy, mine has been on the shelf for months, unused. Ironically, I have worked on restoring a B-25 and I haven't exactly yanked this book off of the shelf in great anticipation. That should reveal something