I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book when I first recieved it. Was it a war diary, a history of the Blenheim in Finnish service, or just a nice picture book. I can tell you that upon finishing it, that it is a little bit of each of these. The author states in the preface that he had started out to do a narrative history of the squadron. When he had finished that book, he found that he had a huge number of photographs that were not used. Rather than let them not be seen, he then put those and some from the original book onto what is a photographic history of the unit. It works out very well indeed.

I have read several other photo history books on various units and equipment, and those have always left me feeling as if they were a bit incomplete and not well thought out. This book, however, does not do that. It leaves the reader with a real sense of what it was like to operate these aircraft in the conditions that existed at the time. There are images of the men and their surroundings that really put forth what they were experiencing. Imagine living in cardboard tents during the winter as there wasn't time to build permanent shelters! I had never heard of these buildings, yet they appear to have been well engineered and performed their tasks quite well.

There are stories of some of the more interesting missions. There are quite a few photos of the unit's aircraft, including detail images that should be of great interest to modelers. The book also goes into the use of the Blenheim in Finnish service. There is a listing of all the aircraft used by the squadron and its fate in one of the appendices.

Just to give the pertinent facts of the book. It is 10" by 7", hardbound, 158 pages. The images are, except for a few very rare images, crystal clear. The book is printed on high quality paper and is well edited. No pictures covering 'the trench' in between pages. There are also a few very rare color photos included. The text is in both English and Finnish as are the captions for the pictures. It is obvious that this book was well thought out and well edited as it was very readable. In fact, it was a fascinating read for this reviewer.

The book is divided into four major sections: The Winter War 1939-40, The Interim Peace 1940-41, The Continuation War 1941-44, and the Lapland War 1944-45. There are also three appendices covering the Blenheim, other aircraft, and comparative ranks as well as a thorough index.

Overall a really excellent book on the subject and highly recommended for those who are interested in the aircraft or the Finnish Air Force in general. Were I to add anything to the book, I would add some color profiles of the aircraft. Now I realize that this book isn't really written for modelers, but it would be nice just the same. If you can't find it at your local bookstore, you can write to the address below for more information on getting it. Pick up a copy, you will be very glad that you did.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher. If you would like more information on this book, you can e-mail Lassi Eskola or write to them at: Koala-Kustannus, Oy Greenbay House Publishing, LTD, Vähäniityntie 19 A 1, 00570, Helsinki, Finland. 

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