The Ta-152 was considered to be the finest piston powered German aircraft ever to reach squadron service. Those pilots who were able to fly the few examples that reached them in the field were unanimous in their praise for the aircraft and it's abilities to match or defeat enemy aircraft in combat. It is a real pity that the aircraft came too late and in too few a number to make any difference at all in the final outcome of the war. It is a story that can be told over and over about new weapons in the last years of any war.

As with most of Schiffer's books on German subjects, this one was translated from an earlier German-language book. Also like most Schiffer hardback books, it is printed on thick, high quality paper and has a sizeable number of quality images in it. It is also, like most Schiffer books, printed outside the US. In this case, China.

This 1999 edition is 144 pages in length and includes a detailed description of the events that led to the production of the aircraft, the aircraft itself, some of its operational usage and any additional prototypes and follow-on designs.

The author gives a very good history of the aircraft. It seems that no bit of information has been excluded from this book. Every detail of the aircraft, powerplant and weapons is included in the book. There are a number of very good three views and other drawings depicting the variations in airframes as well as the equipment carried. There are also a number of performance charts and specifications in the original German.

There is also a lot of 'white space' in the book. It is as if Schiffer had trouble stretching all the info into 144 pages. To my mind, around ten pages of original performance data sheets could have been removed without  impacting the book. The same with a number of pages of drawings, which, though alleging to show different variants, seem to me to be identical right down to the smallest detail. Every known photo of a Ta-152 is in this book as are photos of a lot of people involved in the program. There isn't a single aircraft photo that looks new to me. It seems I have seen them all published somewhere else, so the 'new, unpublished photos' must be of the engines or personalities.

Do I sound too critical? Perhaps that comes with having an interest in the subject and having a lot of references. It could also be that I felt that Schiffer could have saved us some money by making this a 120 page book and lowering the price. If you have the Monogram Close-up on the Ta-152, then you have basically all the info and pictures that this book gives you. Heck, the Monogram Close-up even gives you some color profiles, something that Schiffer histories do not do, but should.

If you have nothing on the Ta-152 and want a good history of the aircraft, then this is the book for you. If you have a number of other Ta-152 references, then look elsewhere.

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet! (Thank goodness I got this on discount)

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