During the 1970s and early 1980s it was Gerald Coulson’s prints, probably more than any other artist, which succeeded in popularizing the aviation art genre. In later years he has concentrated mainly on aviation subjects but in 1991 when this book was published he was equally well known for his landscape paintings. This is reflected in the book which contains a good selection of his tranquil landscapes interspersed within the aviation images.

The author John Blake was at the time a senior member of the Guild of Aviation Artists and as such well qualified to provide the commentary that supports each image. He gives the reader some excellent insights into the approach of the artist, discussing factors such as light, colour and composition.

After a Foreword by fellow artist David Shepherd and a short introduction by the artist there is a detailed discussion of Gerald Coulson’s career by author John Blake. The colour plates, plus some sketches, follow in no particular order, each supported by narrative from the author. The volume concludes within a section dedicated to the Spitfire, a subject that Gerald Coulson painted many times and includes some classic pictures that many readers will be familiar with.

This book was out of print many years ago and is now only available on the secondary market.

Condition: this book is in good order - its is a book that has obviously been read keenly and the pages have some evidence of that but nothing major. There is also a little natural age decolourisation of the page edges. The cloth binding is tight and clean. The dust jacket is good overall with a little evidence of handling - some small indentations here and there. Overall a good example of this fine work from one of our most important aviation artists.

Colour plates: 72 plus a number of drawings and photos.    Pages: 96    ISBN: 0-7153-9869-5