The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Aircraft Built and Flown

3,500+ full-color illus. and photos. 10 x 13.

Aviation readers here have a pair of wrist-benders to peruse (these two books together weigh about 12 pounds). Both books are by long-time aviation authors, are exhaustively thorough and illustrated, and represent lifetimes of work. British aviation historians Green and Swanborough began their encyclopedia back in June 1971 in the back pages of Air Enthusiast magazine with a column called "Fighter A to Z." In the intervening decades entries were added and corrections made. To produce this encyclopedia of "every fighter aircraft built and flown," cutaway and full-color renderings were added for the better-known types. A few aviation enthusiasts might doubt that "every" fighter is represented, but the nearly 1700 entries and over 4000 illustrations will give you your money's worth, and then some. Musciano's interest in seaborne aviation began even before he designed American carriers during World War II. His history starts with Civil War balloon ships, continues through the early uses of aircraft in World War I, and then covers the explosion of diversity and interest through World War II and on to the modern era's "force projection" role. Musciano's effective telling of the story of aircraft carriers relies on short entries topped with headlines and illustrated with black-and-white photos and his own meticulous arrangement drawings of the ships and places. Both books are recommended for public libraries.
Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.