The latest in the Squadron 'Walk Around' series is this first volume on the MiG-21 Fishbed. Undoubtedly the most well known of the third generation MiG intereceptors, the MiG-21 was designed as a point defense interceptor to go after enemy bombers and was later developed with ground attack capabilities, a job for which it was not really designed and probably would not be that successful in doing.

This first volume covers the early MiG-21 types; MiG-21F, PF, PFM, U and UM. The last two are trainer variants. These early aircraft started with a forward hinging canopy that was later modified to the 'open to the right' version that was found on all the later aircraft.

In common with other books of this series, you have a huge number of photographs. The publishers alternate between two pages of black and white and two pages of color as they have done in previous Walk Around books. Since there are no longer any active service MiG-21s of the vintages covered in the book, all the close up shots (of which there are many) are taken of museum or display aircraft. In fact, most of them are of planes that have been out in the elements for a long time and are not exactly in the most pristine condition! Nevertheless, the photo coverage is extensive and as such should please those with an interest in the aircraft as well as modelers with a penchant for getting everything just right.

In addition to all the great close-up images, there are photos of the aircraft when they were in service and several pages of well drawn profiles to help spark the desire to go out and build a model or two! Overall an excellent book on the type and a very good value for the money, especially when compared to similar books that retail for $40 or more! It is one I enjoyed reading and is one that I can highly recommend, along with other books in the series.

You can find this book and many others at

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has  nearly 300,000 visitors a month, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.