The human element takes centre stage in the unique military art work of James Dietz.  The first thing to say is that this book is not solely dedicated to aviation, it takes an equal share with Army and Navy images, but the quality is so good that most enthusiasts won’t mind. The title, Portraits of Combat, is well chosen, some of the paintings contain a dozen or more individuals each with their own distinct personality and each contributing to an intricate and complex composition. These images are powerful, not only because of the quality of the art work but the exhaustive degree to which the artist researches each minute historical detail.

The book starts off with a brief description of the artists background and influences. Part two covers the evolution of a painting using Maximum Effort as an example. This gives some insight in to both how the artist works and the lengths he goes to get historical accuracy.

The main body of the book is a gallery of 75 colour plates arranged in chronological order and depicting major events and campaigns of WW II, supported by a number of the working sketches. Author Jay Broze does a good job of describing the images and the events that inspired them. Overall this is an excellently presented book with a large format and high quality reproduction.

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

Condition: very good with only minor evidence of handling. The cloth binding is tight and clean. The dust jacket is good overall with some evidence of handling, notably a little creasing along the top edge. Overall an excellent example of this fine work.

Colour plates: 75+.    Pages: 160    ISBN: 1-58663-080-6