This book is a perfect example of how good a basically self published book can be. Troy White is an aviation artist who also knows how to tell a darn good story. I must confess that I'd heard of Hofer's plane 'Salem Representative', but knew little else about him. I had no idea that he was the 4th FG's top scoring ace nor that his death in combat remained a mystery for nearly 50 years. I also had no idea that he was from a small Missouri town only about 75 miles from here.

Troy White wrote this book and did the layout at home using his computer and a publishing program. The quality that came from that is absolutely first rate. The depth of the information and the extremely high standard of the photographs matches that of many books I've read of much greater price and is better than most. Just to let you know how new this book is, the author's introduction (usually the last thing written) was Dec 8, 2002 and this book was at my doorstep in late January 2003. Just to do the stats thing, it is over 200 pages on high quality paper. It is, as they say, profusely illustrated with photos of men and machines as well as some of Troy's paintings. It is also card-bound, which seems to be preferred by many who buy books.

Not only does the author go into the missions flown by Hofer, he also gives an excellent background as to the war situation at the time and relates stories and incidents of his contemporaries and compatriots such as Jim Goodson, John Godfrey, Duane Beeson and Don Gentile. The amount of research is superlative and draws from post combat reports as well as recollections of those who knew Ralph Hofer.

Kidd Hofer was in all respects an individual who often shunned standard procedures. This was generally overlooked because he was such an excellent pilot. He got his first victory in his first combat mission, a feat nearly unheard of. He was also an excellent marksman who seemed to instinctively know how to be in the right position to get the best effects from his aircraft. He was also a loner who often left formation to chase after an enemy plane or to strafe a ground target. Even the way he got to be a pilot is a story into itself as it was basically done on a whim! All he wanted to do was fly and had to have promotion from being an enlisted pilot (and the highest scoring one that the USAAF ever had) to 2nd Lt forced on him!

In all respects, this is a book that reads well, is a valuable reference for both the history buff and the modeler and is one that you will find fascinating about a man who was a truly unique and interesting character. Most highly recommended.

Thanks to Stardust Studios and Troy White for providing the review copy. If you can't find it locally, it can be ordered direct from the link.

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