To quote from a Clint Eastwood movie title, this book is about the good, the bad, and the ugly! French bomber design of the 1930s seemed to spring from some gawd-awful looking aircraft to some really superb designs. All of those are covered in this latest title from the long Squadron/Signal line of Aircraft in Action.

The format is a familiar one to those of us who have been reading these books for decades. It has a decent historical section on the type in question along with photos of the planes taken from different sources. I've not been much of a follower of French WWII bombers, so almost all of the photos were new to me.

If the plane saw unit service at all during WWII, then it is included in this compilation. Just to give you a rundown on what is covered, there is: Amiot 143M, Bloch 210, Farman F.222, Bloch 131, LeO 451, Breguet 693, Bloch 175 and Amiot 354. As you can expect, the older aircraft did not fare well in modern combat. Units flying these plodding bombers were quickly decimated under the German air onslaught during the Battle of France.

Since this book only provides a brief overview on each type, a huge amount of detail is not provided, but it does whet one's appetite for more. The more the aircraft was used, the greater the amount of material, so the LeO 451 gets more press than the Bloch 175.

Modelers will be glad to know that most of these planes are available as kits. Heller did most of these in 1/72 scale many, many years ago, and while rather old technology, they are readily available.

Personally, I like these types of inAction books. I know I'll probably never find a more detailed book (in English), so this one will be quite useful. Highly recommended as an excellent primer on the subject.

You can find this book and many others at

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