Best WWII Warbird Book?

[carpandean]

I have a few old books about WWII aircraft that contain some information about the most common aircraft of the era, but none of them are great. I recently picked up a book called "The Great Book of Fighters: An illustrated encyclopedia of every fighter ever built and flown" that has some great information about 1700+ fighters from the last 100 years. It's a huge book (roughly 10x13 inches, over 600 pages, 2300+ photos, 1700+ drawings) that includes not just the common aircraft, but also the one-off/prototype fighters. However, the information is somewhat abbreviated -- basic development history, including variants, plus dimensions and performance data -- because it covers the full 100+ year history of fighters. It also does not include other planes (transports, trainers, bombers, etc.) Is there a single book that covers most WWII military aircraft, including the one-offs and prototypes, but with more inclusive information?

[TAdan]

Are you familiar with the Jane's "All the Worlds Aircraft" series of books? They provide a good overview of just about everything.

[carpandean]

Thanks for the suggestion.

My first thought actually was Jane's, as I am quite familiar with the Jane's Fighting Ships series. I had tried "Jane's WWII" at Amazon, but so many different version came up that I wasn't sure which, if any, would be good. Some of them did not appear to be up to the Jane's standards.

With the "All the World's Aircraft" series, does it just include planes currently flown or does it also cover historical planes? If the former, then I would guess that one from the early to mid 1940's would be best. If the latter, does it matter much what year I buy? The recent editions are quite expensive, but older editions (60's, 70's, 80's) can be found for less.

[ZeamerB17]

Geez, you don't ask for much, do ya?

Dave

[bilwor]

Try your local library for Jane's. You probably can't check them out but they may be there for reference.
bill word

[carpandean]

Geez, you don't ask for much, do ya?
Dave

Who me?

Just figured a bunch of Warbird junkies would probably have extensive collections of books on the subject and would know which are the best ones.

[ZeamerB17]

Geez, you don't ask for much, do ya?
Dave

Who me?

Just figured a bunch of Warbird junkies would probably have extensive collections of books on the subject and would know which are the best ones.

We do, but I personally think that in-depth books on a single airplane such as the B-17 are better than an all-inclusive book. There's just not enough room.

Is there a single book that covers most WWII military aircraft, including the one-offs and prototypes, but with more inclusive information?

My point being; that's a lot to ask from just 1 book. It'd have to be about 8 inches thick.

Hey, I could be wrong, it has happened before.
Dave

[carpandean]

We do, but I personally think that in-depth books on a single airplane such as the B-17 are better than an all-inclusive book. There's just not enough room.

Ah, now I see what you meant. You are quite right! Unfortunately, I don't have one plane to focus on ... yet

[B17news]

I read "Flying Fortress" by Jablonski (?) until the pages just about wore out.

Its a great overview of the B17

B

[Steve Nelson]

Didn't Jane's have a volume called "Fighting Aircraft of WWII?"

It's hard to think of a single volume work that really emcompasses everything from WWII.

Occaisionally you see the hardbound collections of the old "Profile" series, those are pretty good, but there are probably over a dozen volumes. If you can find them, William Green did a series back in the '60s called "Great Bombers of WWII" and "Great Fighters of WWII." I've got the two-volume bomber series, and it's pretty good. You can usually trust anything by Green.

SN

[6trn4brn]

Not a warbird reference book at all, but Bert Stiles wrote a book called "Serenade to the Big Bird" which I think is one of the best books ever written about the WWII experience and one of the best books I have ever read. Adolph Galland's "First and Last" is also an intriguing read.

[JDK]

After twenty years in the book trade, I don't think there's a single volume single book that will do what you want - which is a lot. Nothing in print. The following can be found, mostly at reasonable prices. Have a look at www.abebooks.com And of course, this is just my professional opinion - I may well be wrong, and what works for me may not work for others!

Janes' did a facsimile of Janes AWA 1945, which is a copy (of course) of the original - and while it's remarkably comprehensive, it contains a lot of 1945 era data - much of which we know is wrong. It's good on western types, variable on German and Italian, and plain erratic on Russian and Japanese - but aims to cover all W.W.II types; not just current in '45. Very useful for an insight to the knowledge and views of 1945.

Green's (incomplete) Warplanes of W.W.II series published by MacDonald is good (excellent in their day) but there are more recent books which are better informed.

Combat Aircraft of World War Two by Weale, Lionel Leventhal 1977 (mine is a Bracken Books edn) contains the majority of combat types, but it's essentially tables of performance data - it's strength is that these were revised for consistency, and datawise, it's very comprehensive. But there's little 'reading' in it. It lives by my desk.

Otherwise I'd recommend the humongous Chronicle of Aviation which is an excellent complete history of aviation presented as contemporary newspaper reports. Unusually, it's not British or American biassed, but remarkably global; containing developments and records from all over the world. Each year has a list of new types, and it's better than any 'just' W.W.II book as it goes into types before and after.

Then as a coffeetable learner book, there's the slightly smaller Flight - 100 Years of Aviation published by Dorling Kindersley in consultation with the Smithsonian and IWM Duxford. Excellent, but obviously superficial, given it's size and scope.

And then there's the internet. A sensible reader can find most of what they read, using their skill and judgement, by some careful searching.

HTH.

[carpandean]

Thanks everyone! I'll be looking into these.

[Cripes]

One that I have always enjoyed is "The Great Book of World War II Airplanes". Apart from the slightly juvenile sounding title, it's filled with fabulous profiles by Rikyu Watanabe, and interesting text. And it's not a light-weight. It's about 2-1/4 inches thick. I doubt it's in print now, but I see single volumes on ebay occasionally for the F6F, P-51, B-17, etc.

[Steve Nelson]

One that I have always enjoyed is "The Great Book of World War II Airplanes".

I finally stumbled across a use copy of that one last year (it's been out of print for over a decade.) Even though the foldouts were a little beat up and the dust jacket it trashed, I didn't think twice about plunking down 25 bucks for it.

Another (unfortunately out of print) series that featured a lot Watanabe's artwork is "Adversaries." There were four volumes: "Ground Attack Aircraft vs. Tanks," "Interceptors vs. Heavy Bombers," "Aircraft vs. Ship," and "Aircraft vs. Submarine." Over the years I've managed to acquire all four (although one ended up costing me more than the other three combined!) In the internet era, you might be able to find them as a set at a reasonable price.

SN