Weapons of War Fighter & Reconnaissance Aircraft 1939-1945

by Michael Spilling (editor)

Part of the Weapons of War series, this book features more than 150 color and black & white illustrations and photographs as well as detailed specifications on fighter planes and reconnaissance aircraft from 1939-1945.

Fighter and Reconnaissance Aircraft, 1939–1945 brings together the most significant fighter planes of World War II in a single, handy volume arranged in alphabetical order. The book includes typical examples such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Supermarine Spitfire, Yakovlev Yak-3, and the North American P-51 Mustang.    

176 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2013

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mostly fine book is unfortunately marred by some odd editorial decisions and sloppiness. First, the good stuff. Inside this book is information on all of the major and many of the minor during World War II. You get specifications and performance information for the main variant and information on other variants. Some aircraft that had many different variants, like the Supermarine Spitfire or Messerschmitt Bf-109 get multiple write-ups for specific variants. The general layout is that one page has the aircraft name, a painting (always side view) of the aircraft, a history, and specifications.

So what mars this? The odd typo I can handle, but in one case the name and picture provided are for one plane, while the history and specifications given are for another aircraft entirely. And why does the P-47 get a two-page display, but no other plane does? And why include some pre-production aircraft that never went into production? I'm not sure if production was rushed or if the publisher just didn't care enough to do the job right. Still, this is a good reference work for aircraft of the type. I bought this as a reference book for the Down in Flames card game series, and does that job well.