Archive for Items Categorized 'Military', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

The Avro Shackleton: The Long-Serving ‘Growler’

by Jason Nicholas Moore

The Shack is indeed named after the polar explorer because they both went on far-away and long-lasting missions to inhospitable places. It entered service in 1951 and stuck around for 40 years and of all the books about it, this is the most comprehensive.

American Eagles, A History of the United States Air Force (2nd Ed.)

by Daniel Patterson & Clinton Terry

It’s the 75th anniversary of the USAF and the 100th of the NMUSAF so of course there needs to be a book! This is an update of the 50th anniversary book that had been written by a high-ranking British RAF officer.

The Last Enemy

by Richard Hillary

After being shot down in the Battle of Britain this Spitfire pilot endured pioneering plastic surgery to rebuild his face and hands. While recovering, he wrote this memoir, then returned to flying again. Two months later was shot down again, at 23. This time he died.

Sea Flight: The Wartime Memoirs of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot

by Hugh Popham

The first published memoir by a British WW II fighter pilot. Not a story of fly-boy derring-do but quiet reflection.

Half Century, Baby! Fifty Years of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat

by David Parsons and Mads Bangsø

This is one of the top books on the subject, thanks to the authenticity and competence of the many people who were interviewed for it.

GHOSTS 2024 Calendars, The Great War & A Time Remembered

by Philip Makanna

If you didn’t know these are photographs you’d swear they must be paintings. Some of these air-to-air shots look completely impossible to capture while everything is moving any which way.

The Nature of World War I Aircraft, Collected Essays 

by Javier Arango

Reading about vintage aircraft is one thing, and for many the closest they will get, but Arango had the means and the mindset to actually experience them, first by restoring or recreating them and then flying them—and then writing about it.

Airway to the East 1918–1920 and the Collapse of No.1 Aerial Route RAF

by Clive Semple

The Arab-Israeli conflict is in the news every day. This book revisits a story related to it but buried since 1919 and deals with early long-distance flying in general.

The White Rose of Stalingrad

by Bill Yenne

In WWII, only the Soviets had female active duty combat pilots. In fact, they had three all-female squads. Two of their pilots became aces. The long-suppressed and forgotten story of one of them is told here.

Battle of Britain The Movie: The Men and Machines of one of the Greatest War Films Ever Made

by Robert J. Rudhall & Dilip Sarkar

You may not have seen the original 1969 movie but outtakes from it found their way into more than a dozen movies between 1971 and 2010. This book explains why and how the movie was made, with special emphasis on the aircraft used.

Military Low-Flying in the UK: The Skill of Pilots and Photographers

by Michael Leek 

Look at the cover photo and consider that it was taken from the ground, not from a higher-flying plane! This book shows how it’s done.

Dornier Do 335 Pfeil/Arrow

by J. Richard Smith and Eddie J. Creek

Fast the Arrow was but it never flew in combat. It made its greatest contribution to aviation during post-WWII testing by the Allies, aided by the German experts who had originally built it. From origins to “what if” studies, this book has it.

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