Spitfire Mark I/II Aces 1939-41

Spitfire Mk Is and IIs served only briefly in the frontline with the RAF, but their pilots were responsible for achieving impressive scores against the Luftwaffe during 1940/41. This volume details the RAF's first aces of World War 2 who helped stem the German tide during Britain's struggle for survival in the bitter years between 1939 and 1941. Early-mark Spitfires were notorious for their light armament, overheating engines and short range, but during the dogfights over Dunkirk and south-east England, then the first tentative sweeps across France, many pilots achieved scores of note.

Dr Alfred Price served as an aircrew officer in the Royal Air Force, where he was a crewman on Vulcan bombers and specialised in electronic warfare and air fighting tactics. In a military flying career spanning fifteen years he logged over 4,000 flying hours. He left the service in 1974 and since then has been a full-time writer on aviation subjects. He is author of 46 books and more than 200 magazine articles. He holds a PhD in history from Loughborough University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Iain Wyllie was one of Britain's leading - and most prolific - aviation cover artists. A native of Northern Ireland, he trained as a naval draughtsman and became a full-time aviation artist in the late 1980s. He has been responsible for creating numerous cover artworks for Osprey Publishing's hugely successful Aircraft of the Aces and Combat Aircraft series since 1994. His artwork is synonymous with originality of subject, intricate detail and technical accuracy.

Mark Rolfe is an extremely talented profile artist. He has worked on a number of titles in Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces and Combat Aircraft series.

MIKE CHAPPELL comes from an Aldershot family with British Army connections stretching back several generations. He enlisted as a teenage private in the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1952 and retired in 1974, as RSM of the 1st Battalion The Wessex Regiment (Rifle Volunteers), after seeing service in Malaya, Cyprus, Swaziland, Libya, Germany, Ulster and home garrisons. He began painting military subjects in 1968 and has gained worldwide popularity as a military illustrator. Mike has written and illustrated many books for Osprey.

Mark Styling is better known to readers of Osprey Publishing's Aircraft of the Aces and Combat Aircraft series as the profile artist for such books as Hellcat Aces of World War 2, Japanese Army Air Force Aces 1937–45 and P–61 Units of World War 2. A full-time commercial artist, Mark works from his home in the East London suburb of Hackney.