When this book arrived in the mail late last Friday, I was delighted to see that it was on a subject that I find to be fascinating; late war Luftwaffe aircraft and camouflage. I guess the reason I so enjoy these sorts of things is that the variations in aircraft camouflage and markings during this time were so varied and interesting. Sure, the USAAF has it colorful planes and garish nose art, something the the Luftwaffe eschewed, but for me, it is camouflage that has the biggest attraction.

This particular volume is the first of I hope many on planes that were found and in some cases flown at the end of the war. Hidden in forests or pushed/towed into piles, these planes were photographed by G.I.s and by official military photographers, sometimes in color, and provide an excellent look at these late war aircraft.

Of course, things were not as straight-forward as one would hope. The war was over and few cared about how these planes were painted and marked. It is up to modern day historians and researchers to try to make sense out of what we now see. This means deciphering greyshade images and assigning known colors to them. This is made more difficult in that often these photos are not of a complete airframe and there were several types of black and white film used that could dramatically alter the way some colors were collected on film.

In this book, the author has done his best to provide some quality research and information on each of the photos in the book. It has brought to light several interesting revelations concerning planes that we previously thought were not built and others that we thought were one sub-type when they turn out to be another. These findings also carry over to some of the colors.

I've seen a lot of books on the subject and was delighted to find that just about all the photos in this one were new to me. A nice variety of aircraft are covered with the book divided in to areas according to the mission of the aircraft. There are sections on recce birds, fighters, bombers, destroyers, mistels, jets, and others. Several of the aircraft are further featured by having color profiles provided of what they looked like while in service.

Each of the photographs is accompanied by a rather detailed description of what is shown in the image as well as as much history on each aircraft as has been found. There is a huge amount of information and in order to provide the largest quality image possible, the printing is rather small, at least for these old eyes. This is not a book that can be read in one sitting and since I read all of a review book, I'm sure the publishers have been wondering why the delay!

To add to it, Vintage Eagle provides decal sets in 1/48 and 1/32 covering several of the profile subjects which are reviewed elsewhere and available when you order the book.

In all it makes for a truly outstanding book and if you love the subject as much as I, you need to pick up one of these at the earliest opportunity. Most highly recommended.

September 2011

Review book courtesy of www.vintageeagle.com. Visit the link for your copy. Available August 2011.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

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