Christopher Shores

ten key air battles of the Second World War. These include: (1) Blitzkrieg on Poland, (2) The Battle of Britain, (3) Invasion of the Philippines; (4) The Long Struggle for Malta, (5) The Battle for Guadalcanal, (6) Breaking the Mareth Line, (7) Fierce Clashes at Kursk, (8) The Night Bomber Offensive, (9) The Daylight Bomber Offensive, and (10) The Great Marianas ‘Turkey Shoot.’ The book begins with a Glossary of pilot ranks before moving on to the main sections. Each includes with a beautiful painting besides maps, orders of battle, photographs, and short sections on key aircraft types. The accounts of the battles themselves are gripping with an emphasis on the pilots, units, and aircraft. Overall this is an important book to own for those interested in WW2 aviation.… (altro)

Well Researched Old School History

Mr. Shores writes in a style reminiscent of military history books authored in the '70's. This means the book is well researched down into the individual flights within the squadrons with the theaters getting their own chapters with the events in chronological order. That's not to say that the scope is limited, far from it. Losses of various civilian aircraft receive adequate coverage as well does a myriad of French, Filipino, Dutch, and Thai units. The index at 10 pages is quite in-depth and in order to fit everything is an extremely small font. The only possible complaint about the index would be aircraft types are not listed in the index. So,if you're interested in the Dutch CW-21, you're going to be leafing through the book. I do believe the book does suffer for want of footnotes and a bibliography It was a difficult decision whether to deduct a star for these faults. In the end, they are not major enough warrant a deduction. Any contemporary reader of this author will undoubtedly have the ability to do a little research without being spoon-fed.

Having said that, the book provides a British (With Japanese input.) perspective of the first few disastrous months of the Pacific war and is recommended without reservation.… (altro)