Title:

Aces 3

Author:

W.Wayne Patton

Publisher

Squadron/Signal

Price

$14.95 ($13.47 at Squadron)

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Notes: 64 pages, 8½ x 11 inches, softbound
ISBN: 1-89747-472-4

 

This is the third in the series and covers a variety of 'aces'; not just those who fly planes. Anyone who has been interested in the subject has heard of a number of these people. Names like Nowotny, Blesse, Udet, Cunningham, Bong and Clostermann are well known to many of us. Not so well known are Negishi, Wittmann, Castano, Van Coc, or Pierce.

For some of these men, the biography is relatively long, but others are not so well documented and so the information on them is tantalizingly brief. Yet all managed to achieve that magic goal of 5 kills that made them an ace. Not all methods of counting are the same with some nations giving full credit for shared victories and others including things like aircraft destroyed on the ground, but that does little to diminish the skill and bravery of those involved.

There are a large number of color profiles and three views of the aircraft and tanks of the more well-known men and that adds a great deal to the interest and value of the book, especially to modelers. For some reason, the author has chosen to do drawings of the aces rather than use the original photographs. I'm not sure why this method was chosen, but for me, it diminishes the quality of the book. Frankly, there are few artists who can provide the kind of accuracy that is given by a photograph and this one is a case of close, but not quite. With the easy availability of photographs of these men, I feel the photographs should have been used.

Aside from that, historians and modelers alike will find this to be an excellent book and provide an introduction into these men for those who wish to learn more.

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