This is a bit of a classic in many respects. During the last year or so of WWII, the USAAF sent historians out to the field to collect material from aces and veteran fighter leaders on what was the reasons for their success. These books were then provided to new pilots in hopes that their stories would provide not only inspiration, but solid instruction on what it took to become a successful leader and fighter pilot. Three different books were done; two from VIII Fighter Command in Europe and this one done for the V Fighter Command in the Pacific.

As such, this is as much a reprint as anything else and covers 26 men from the various fighter groups in the Pacific. While there are the usual 'I was there' stories about shooting down enemy aircraft, there is also a lot of advice and suggestions to the novice pilot who might be reading the book.

Osprey has enhanced this volume in several ways. One is that there is a short history of each pilot in terms of his active duty and what happened to him after the war. Some are quite complete, while some seem to have quietly left the service and disappeared back into society.  The truly outstanding part of this book is that it not only contains some of the aces that we all know like Bong and McGuire, but some of the less known men such as Banks and Atkinson. It provides for a well rounded compilation.

There are also a number of excellent photographs of the men and their aircraft. Many of these period photos were new to your reviewer, which is always quite a pleasant surprise.  In addition, there are several pages of super profiles, drawn by artist Chris Davey. I would dare say that many of you have modeled some of these aircraft before and there are lots of great possibilities for upcoming decal sheets.

Overall, it makes for an excellent read and one that I know you will enjoy.

September 2005

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