This book is a follow up to Osprey's highly successful 'Aircraft of the Aces - Legends of World War 2'. It follows the same format in that it uses the cover artwork of their well known Aircraft of the Aces book series as the cornerstone of its illustrations. This time however Iain Wyllie is joined by renowned artist Mark Postlethwaite (and for a couple of the paintings Keith Woodcock) plus several other artists who have contributed aircraft side profiles. This volume showcases 33 paintings, each being used to help tell the story of a particular aviation Ace spanning World War I to the Yom Kippur War.

he book begins with a Foreword by Generalleutnant Gunther Rall. Each Ace is then presented with a full page painting, an aircraft profile by the same artist, text by the author incorporating comments from the pilot's notes, a short biography of the pilot and a technical specification of the aircraft. There is a liberal sprinkling of period photos to round off each story. Overall this a professionally presented, well laid out book that is easy to dip in and out of. An excellent balance of artwork and reference.

Author: Tony Holmes

Colour plates: 66    Pages: 143    ISBN: 1-84176-825-1

Normal retail price: £20.00