The FW-190 is one of the many aircraft that have had millions of pages of materiel written on it. Yet it seems as if there is always more to write on it. Sometimes the books are very good and provide new information. Sometimes the books offer an easy to follow history of the aircraft and cover each of the different subtypes in an easy-to-follow manner. Sometimes the books are excellent references where you can find any small detail that you need for doing that super-detailed model or for helping you identify specific aircraft. And sometimes you find a book that is quite general and tells you nothing new at all. As much as I hate to say it, that last category is where I would put this book.

Schiffer started its publishing career by taking German books and having them translated into English. This is undoubtedly one of them. Written by noted German military historian Heinz J. Nowarra, the book is very similar to the 'In Action' series in its size and layout, however, that is where the similarities end. If you knew almost nothing about the aircraft and wanted an introductory book on the type then this would be the book for you. However, it seems as if I have seen most of the images in other places and the historical description is quite general.

The book covers all of the basic variants from the Fw-190v1 to the Ta-152H, but as far as being a quality reference which can be used to distinguish between the types, it does not do a good job of that at all. In fact, the amount of verbal information is quite limited as is plain from the use of very large type. It is as if Herr Nowarra needed to fill 48 pages in as short amount of time as possible. When he ran out of things to say, he stuck in more pictures.

OK, maybe I am a bit harsh on the book. I've been around a while and have done a lot of reading. This book told me nothing new and showed me no new pictures. There are only 2 color profiles. Those are on the back cover and the one of the Fw-190F-3 is wrong regarding the color of the nose stripe and fuselage unit markings. Of course, this compendium of things from Nowarra's other books was done in 1991 by Schiffer. Heaven only knows when the original German edition was published. It could have been as far back as the late 1960s or early 1970s, which would account for the lack of detailed information and incorrect profile. This is something you need to consider before buying any similar editions from Schiffer.

Bottom line. If you need a primer on the Fw-190, pass on this one and get the In Action books. You'll find those more informative and more useful to you as a modeler. Give this one to a youngster to pique his interest in aircraft.

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