Gladiator Ace: Bill 'Cherry' Vale, the RAF's Forgotten Fighter Ace (2010)

New book written by Brian Cull with Ludovico Slongo and myself.
This book is now available from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gladiator-Ace-Cherry-Forgotten-Fighter/dp/184425657X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272628415&sr=1-1

More reviews on Desert Prelude

http://mmpbooks.biz/mmp/reviews.php?page=1&book_id=119&type=2

Goon in the Block (2010)

New book written by Don Edy about his exploits with 33 RAF Squadron in the Western Desert. The book can be ordered from: http://www.goonintheblock.com/

Desert Prelude

"Desert Prelude: Early Clashes" is now available from Motor Books - http://www.motorbooks.co.uk/notes.asp?bookid=98784 .

Piece of Cake (1988)

I bought a copy of 'Piece of Cake' on DVD. This 6-episode TV-series based on Derek Robinson's novel covers the 'Hornet' Squadron during the phoney-war and Battle of Britain. The story is highly fictionalized (typically no Spitfires in France etc.). But what the series do is delivering some stunning flying (and some bits and pieces from the Battle of Britain movie), but the new flying really stands out and it's incredibly 'cocky' - no display flying here and the Hanna's is on top of this game. A true feast for the eye! This old series was made in the 80's and has not been surpassed in view of the flying -why can't they do more series like this with real stuff? Nowadays there are large numbers of Spitfires flying with the odd Hurricane, Bf 109 and even Japanese aircraft. Isn't it time for a high quality aviation movie/TV-series in the style of Band of Brothers/The Pacific?

Also a couple of words on Derek Robinson. A highly recommended writer of fun aviation novels. He's not always kind to the RAF but he has a very typical humor always with a twinkle in the eye.

Recommended!

5/5

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Piece-Cake-DVD-Boyd-Gaines/dp/B000NTDPDM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1271097155&sr=1-2 (this version includes subtexts)

Beaufighter wreck in the Mediterranean

A nice YouTube clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwymljzTeA&NR=1

First review of Desert Prelude

The first review of Desert Prelude has arrived!
See more at: http://mmpbooks.biz/mmp/reviews.php?page=1&book_id=119&title=No title&type=2

Arawasi International Extra 1 (2009)

Arawasi International Extra 1 is a 50-page compilation of the five first numbers of the Arawasi magazine stating in 2007. This is an excellent magazine, which primarily concentrates on the IJAAF, filled with hard to get material (at least in English and to me) on Japanese aviation. In my particular interested there are articles about the Kawasaki K-10 'Perry', the attack by the 10th I F Chutai' attack on Kai Tak airfield on 8 December 1941 (see: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sino-japanese-1941.htm ) and the Nanking Nationalist Air Force. I will for certainly buy more magazines from this publisher!

Rating 4/5

Available from: http://www.arawasi.jp/

Air War over Spain (2009)

Books about the air war during the Spanish Civil War are always welcome. Thus is this book by Rafael A. Permuy Lópes a nice addition in my library. The book covers aviators, aircraft and air units of the Nationalist and Republican Air Forces during 1936-1939. It includes many to me new images and profiles but unfortunately (in my opinion) it gives too much of an overview, i.e. no details on pilots (or very limited) and/or combats. Recommended to anyone new to the subject.

Rating 3/5

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Air-Over-Spain-Classic-Colours/dp/1906537100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268763732&sr=1-1

Desert Prelude: Early clashes (2010)

Mine and Ludovico Slongo's latest book "Desert Prelude: Early clashes" is now available from the publisher MMP at: http://mmpbooks.biz/mmp/books.php?book_id=119.
It will be available from amazon in a week or so.

Hawker Fury & Nimrod (2006)

Another book written by Alex Crawford. This time about the Hawker Fury & Nimrod in MMP's Orange Series. Again well-written and full with interesting information and images. The use of the Fury during the SCW and WWI is well covered and for anyone interested in British 30's fighters this is a must. Recommended.

Rating 4/5

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hawker-Fury-Nimrod-MMP-Orange/dp/8389450410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267778923&sr=8-1

Hawker Hart Family (2008)

A book in MMP's Orange Series written by the expert on British 30's biplanes, Alex Crawford. As all his works, it is well-written and full of interesting and new images. The book covers the Hawker Hart, Osprey, Demon, Audax, Hardy, Hartbeeste, Hind and Hector with their service in various Air Forces prior and during the Second World War. As a Swede, I was particularly interested in the service of the Hart (Swedish Harts in combat: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/sweden_f19.htm) and Osprey in Sweden and this chapter is well written even if it's a little short (probably due to space limitations). The book has 172 pages with the story of the use etc and these pages are followed 84 pages with on various survivors and restoration projects for a total of 256 pages. Recommended!

Rating 4/5

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hawker-Hart-Family-MMP-Orange/dp/8389450623/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267461008&sr=1-3

Douglas Bader

Interesting article on Douglas Bader in todays Express: http://dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/158680/Bader-a-flawed-hero

Blackburn Skua & Roc (2007)

An interesting monograph about the FAA's first monoplane, the Skua, and turreted version Roc written by Matthew Willis in Mushrooms Orange Series. Well-written in the series typical style even if a little thin (i.e. none) on appendices with squadron use and claims etc, which had made the book excellent. Still a nice addition to the collection and recommended to any interested in the FAA.

Rating 3/5

Unfortunately it seems to have been sold out (it seem that I've bought one of the last on Amazon).

Gladiators over Norway (1942)

A small 42-pages gem from1942 written by Victor MacClure, who apparently interviewed a number of the survivors from 263 Squadron. The book covers the Squadrons operations during the two fateful campaigns in Norway in 1940. The name of the Squadron is not told in the book, probably due to wartime censorship. It's the same for the pilots but with little knowledge in the campaign and unit it is easy to decipher the nicknames on them. I'm slightly surprised in the honest way this British fiasco is described and thus it's interesting read. A very nice addition to my library.

A good start to read more about the pilots in the Norwegian campaign is my site at: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/gladiator_norway_kills.htm

Rating 4/5

Desert Prelude - Early Clashes (2009)

According to the publisher, the publishing date is set to 1 March 2010.

Sample pages are available from the publisher at: http://stratusbooks.com.pl/str/books_pdf/119.pdf

Reviews of Fiat CR.42 Aces of World War 2 (2009)

Some reviews of the Fiat CR.42 Aces of World War 2 book:

http://www.ipmsusa2.org/reviews2/aircraft/books/osprey-publ/osprey_cr42-aces.htm

http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/books/osprey/aviation/cr42aces.htm

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/ref/osp/book_osp_aoa90.shtml

http://www.amazon.co.jp/Fiat-CR-42-Aces-World-Aircraft/dp/1846034272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1265202509&sr=1-1 (in Japanese!)

http://www.amazon.de/Fiat-CR-42-Aces-World-Aircraft/dp/1846034272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1265202540&sr=1-1 (in German)

http://www.amazon.com/Fiat-CR-42-Aces-World-Aircraft/dp/1846034272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265202606&sr=1-1 (3 reviews)

The book is available from: http://www.amazon.com/Fiat-CR-42-Aces-World-Aircraft/dp/1846034272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265202606&sr=1-1

Desert Prelude

After a long wait and hard work, it finally seems that Ludovico Slongo's and mine "Desert Prelude" will be published during the spring of 2010. The size of the book has caused the publisher MMPBooks (http://www.mmpbooks.biz/mmp/index.php) to split it into two parts and it's the first part that due for publishing this spring. This first part will cover operations from 10 June 1940 until 30 November 1940. It will have around 220 pages in A4 format. I recently finished working with the names that are to be included in the index and this includes more than 1200 names (more than 700 Italian and 450 Commonwealth).

Italian War Graves

A couple of weeks ago, Gianmaria Spagnoletti tiped me about the "Italian version" of the The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (http://www.cwgc.org/) which can be found at the Ministro Della Difesa (http://www.difesa.it/Ministro/Commissariato+Generale+per+le+Onoranze+ai+Caduti+in+Guerra/) - select: "Banca Dati sulle sepolture dei Caduti in Guerra" and when the new page opens select: "Accedi al sistema di ricerca". A realy useful tool!

Regia Aeronautica 2010

Looks like 2010 will be a good year for anyone interested in the Regia Aeronautica!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Italian-Air-Force-1923-1945/dp/0764333739/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259500572&sr=8-1

Scheduled for 20 Feb 2010

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/190653702X/ref=s9_sima_gw_s0_p14_t1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=13F3AVJ4NX7JQ9E2NXWY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294
Schedueld for 1 Jun 2010

Fiat CR.42 Aces of World War 2 (2009)

This year's Christmas present?
Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiat-CR-42-Aces-World-Aircraft/dp/1846034272/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259428613&sr=8-1

Courage Alone: The Italian Air Force 1940-1943 (2009)

This is revised and updated version of Chris Dunning's since long time sold-out "Courage Alone" from 1998. The new edition includes many new images but so far I haven't found any new information (I haven't gone through all unit histories yet). The book covers every Gruppo and Autonomo Squadriglia histories, areas of operations, allocations, OOBs, aircraft types etc. Two new things in the book are two appendices with extracts from the technical manuals for the Ca.310 and CR.32 (not adding very much). It also list the Regia Aeronautica aces (which still unfortunately includes the error that Franco Lucchini (http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/italy_lucchini.htm) claimed five victories in Spain - in fact he only claimed an I-15 as a solo victory on 21/02/38. It is still the best reference source on the Regia Aeronautica available in English but if you have the first edition, there is no need to buy this version (if you're not like me, who wants to buy everything available on Italian aviation, that is...). However, if you don't have the previous edition and is the slightest interested in the Regia Aeronautica, this is definitively a must! Highly recommended!

Rating 5/5

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Courage-Alone-Italian-Force-1940-1943/dp/1902109090/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255543456&sr=1-1

Ali Antiche no. 87 (2009)

The latest number of this Italian magazine produced by the Gruppo Amici Velivoli Storici includes as usual a number of interesting articles. The magazine includes translations to English of the main articles. This number includes an interesting article about the Caproni Ca.114 in Peru during 1935-1944. The Ca.114 was the "loser" in the competition for a new fighter to the Regia Aeronautica that was won by the Fiat CR.32. 12 aircraft were exported to Peru and used up until 1944. Another article covers the development of the Fiat 7002 helicopter from 1957 until the project was cancelled in the early 60's. The helicopter was powered with a "jet" configuration, i.e. jet efflux from the rotor blades tips. Recommended for anyone interested in the more unknown parts of Italian aviation.

Rating 4/5

Available for subscription from: www.gavs.it

Hitler's Gulf War: The Fight For Iraq 1941 (2009)

This book, written by Barrie G. James, covers the war in Iraq in 1941 when the Iraqis opportunistically revolted against the British after vague promises from the Germans and Italians on assistance. The British were in a grave situation in the spring of 1941, being hard pressed by Rommel in North Africa, having been pushed out of Greece and awaiting the invasion of Crete. At this time, the Iraqi government decided to revolt against the British, trying to push them out of the country, which would have placed the British in a very dangerous situation cutting the communications between the Middle East and India. This is a little known campaign, which have only been covered in a few books. This book doesn't add anything new regarding the air war (excellent covered in C. Shores' "Dust clouds in the Middle East" and Tony Dudgeon's "Hidden victory" and "The war that never was") while the ground war is equally good covered in Robert Lyman's "Iraq 1941". However, what it does add in an easy way is the political background and play of the situation in Iraqi before and during the campaign. This is very interesting reading given the situation that have prevailed in the country up until today and the situation in the whole Middle East. Unfortunately the book doesn't have any images nor any maps and suffers from having been dramatized by having dialogue added, which feels strange in a history book. The book ends with a good epilogue with the fate of the main participants after the campaign, a good bibliography and a usable index.
The verdict is a good book that in an easy way covers a dramatic campaign and complex situation but without adding anything new about the air war. Recommended.

Rating: 3/5

Available from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitlers-Gulf-War-Fight-Iraq/dp/184884090X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254052640&sr=1-1

Gladiator: Finn Thorsager - fra jagerpilot til flykaptein (2009)

Tor Idar Larsen has written a biography over Finn Thorsager (http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/norway_thorsagen.htm ). The book is on 209 pages and covers Thorsager's career from his youth via the Norwegian Air Force and the RAF to the end of his career in the SAS. It's a very nice book and includes some unique images. Books about the Scandinavian pilots in the RAF are very rare and this book covers this period very well. Unfortunately, the book is written in Norwegian and thus will only be accessible to a Scandinavian market. In addition, it lacks an index, which makes it difficult to use as reference in the future (many other Norwegian pilots features in the book). However, these are only minor issues and if you're a Scandinavian with interest in this period this is highly recommended book!

Rating 4/5

Available from: http://www.finnthorsager.com/index.html