This latest edition of U-Boot im Focus is their first with a full color cover and a very nicely done one it is. It provides an excellent look at how these boats were painted as well as the condition they were in while on patrol. No shiny paint on this one.

As is so typical of this series, there are a lot of great photos with rather lengthy captions that are stories in themselves. There are also the usual cruise and personality articles as well as a nice camouflage article on a particularly interesting boat. In the case of the latter, this is on U-141, a Type IID boat. This boat is part of a rather long article that includes profiles of its interesting striped camouflage scheme. Another interestingly camouflaged boat was U-83 that had large swaths of a lighter color painted on the conning tower, a scheme that evolved as time went on.

Another of the articles is on the sinking of U-133 off Salamis. This boat was sunk by a mine and is accessible by rather deep divers, even today. The full story of the boat and its demise is accompanied by the usual round of quality photographs. These are just some of the highlights as there is much, much more included in the book.

Like the earlier LIF/UIF books, this one is dual English/German and contains not only some rare period color photos, but a lot of previously unpublished images from a number of sources. There is delight in every page, making this book one that you simply have to get.

February 2012

Review book courtesy of  Luftfahrtverlag-Start  where you can order your copy and get up to date information on costs. American readers can get it at www.squadron.com

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