Continuing on with the very popular 'Walk Around' series is this edition on the SBD Dauntless. Relying on museum aircraft, warbirds and period photos, the differences between the subtypes is well documented, beginning with the SBD-1 and including the USAAF A-24 series as well.

There are a myriad of well done photographs from tech manuals and as a result of crawling around the surprising number of surviving aircraft in museums and those that are still active on the warbird circuit. Of course, the warbirds have been modified somewhat to meet FAA standards and not all warbird owners are meticulous about color correctness, so that needs to be taken into consideration when viewing those photos. I also found some of the early color images to be extremely contrasty, and a couple of pages in my book were poorly printed, so give your edition a quick examination before taking it from the book rack in the store.

As with all Squadron books of this type, it is very photo intensive with no real historical background other than a short introduction. All the info is in photo captions. There are the usual drawings showing the differences between the subtypes. But even here, the drawings are not as extensive as in the 'In Action' books; photos being used to show many of the minor points.

Detail freaks will enjoy the fact that no hatch or cover goes unopened so all sections of the plane are revealed. In addition to US Dauntlesses, there is photo coverage of New Zealand and Mexican operation of the type. Included are four pages of large profiles giving good coverage of the various camouflage schemes and marking differences.

If you are looking for a bit more of the nuts and bolts on the aircraft than what is provided in the 'In Action' series, then this would be an excellent all round primer on the type.

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