Air command: Fighters and bombers of World War II

This book is actually a combination of two previous books by the same authors. Those books were Bomber Command and Fighter Command. Books books are reproduced in their entirety here, with each one occupying half of this volume. The selling point of these books is not a historical rundown of events of each theater of aerial combat. Instead, the selling point is the presentation of high definition 1940s Kodachrome (for the most part) photography of these aircraft. The original color photographs remain vivid today and are nicely reproduced for the reader. It makes what often seems like a distant B & W war suddenly seem more "real." Filling out the pages are short narratives and annecdotes from pilots, grounds crew, and others who were there. The books persent all aspects of a pilot's experience from training to combat. Note: As one other reviewer pointed out, there is very little coverage of the Pacific theater in this volume. This book mostly shows aircraft in the European Theater...and the perspective is mostly of that of the American Army Air Force. However, the author (the late Jeffrey Ethell) also has another volume called Pacific War Eagles dedicated to that theater of combat. That volume also comes highly recommended if you like the photography and format you see in this volume. Also, the complaint dealing with a lot of the photos being of aircraft on the ground does have a logical explanation. In one of the volumes, it is noted that early color film had a very slow ASA speed relative to today's film. Therefore, it lended itself best to still objects in bright sunlight. However, photos taken from the air do exist and are presented in these volumes. While these books do not present the full story of the aerial war, they present a personal perspective and colorful imagery of the war that is not to be missed.

Air Command is a collection of short passages written by the men in the Eurpoean Air Combat Theater. The passages are well worth reading and the book has plenty of great color photographs. Interesting read.

The book is incredibly interesting,as it is usually rare to find color pictures of WW II. On the other hand, the text is also quite interesting,with good witnesses points of view. I think it s a book all 2nd WW fans should own and keep on a visible board in the living room...

It's a sunny day in May 1942. America has been at war for only six months. Japan appears unstoppable in the Pacific. The Battle of Midway will commence in less than 30 days. Hitler holds Europe and continues his advance across the Russian steppes. U.S. forces haven't engaged the enemy in the European theater yet as you struggle to survive flight school and get into the burgeoning conflict. Flying your BT-14 trainer out of Randolph Field in Texas, you hear your backseat passenger say something over the drone of the engines and as you glance back he snaps your photo. A moment frozen in time. In color.As with the many other startlingly clear color photos that this book contains, a moment in history that is long gone is once again brought to life. These are not grainy black and white stills or jerky films that look a hundred years old. Most of the 200 plus color shots in this surprising book look like they could have been taken today. But they weren't. Imagine what it meant to be in this place at this time....You can, with amazing ease, with the exclusively color (did I say color, yet?) photographs of air combat missions, ground crews with their cherished planes, everyday life between missions. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the air war in Europe in WWII.

The thing that impresses me most are the beautiful, colour photographs. I have seen colour photos from WWII, but never before 200+ in a single book, and all about air combat. These are high quality, clear as a bell photos. I suspect that they may have been retouched, with colour added later. Even if this is so, the details of the aircrafts, down to the markings, makes and models are all accurate. For modellers wanting to build a diaroma, this is a good reference.There is no organised narration. The text is made up of excerpts from pilots, gunners etc. 95% American, 5% German. This includes air combat, POW camps, base conditions, cadet training, crew chiefs. Anything to do with air combat in WW2. Particularly good are the descriptions of the emotional states of the combatants. Some are cold, detached and technical (mainly veterans), some are very nervous and only worry about completing the mission in one piece (new pilots).All in all, and excellent book.