Aircraft Anatomy of World War II / Technical Drawings of Aircraft of World War II: 1939-1945

When it comes to recycling material, England's Amber Books is the hand's-down winner. Over the years they've repackaged/recycled tons of illustrations, three-views, photographs and data sidebars from the Aerospace Publishing database. Case in point: AIRCRAFT ANATOMY OF WORLD WAR II. AIRCRAFT ANATOMY OF WORLD WAR II examines over 70 Allied and Axis aircraft, the warbirds being divided into sections on fighters, bombers and transports/recce and patrol a/c. Among the aircraft covered are A-20s, P-51s, Ar 234s, Zeros, He 111s, PBYs, MC.202s, Spits, C-47s, SM.79s, Ki-84s, B-24s, FW 200s, P-38s, La-5FNs, Meteors, Tu-2s, FW 189s, He 115s, F4Fs, Hudsons and so on. All 70 get a two-page spread with text, specs tables, a cut-away view of the aircraft and one or more b & w and/or color photographs. Fifty of the 70 get an additional two-page spread featuring a color artwork with accompanying sidebars giving technical info on that particular design. The cut-aways are done by John Weal; the color artwork by Keith Fretwell, Iain Wyllie and Grant Rice so we're talking high-quality here. And the technical/operational info is right on the money. Given the handsome package you get and the low price the book sells for, purchasing a copy of AIRCRAFT ANATOMY OF WORLD WAR II is a no-brainer. And if you remember seeing much of the artwork and pix in various Aerospace Publishing books, magazines and calendars...well, I guess we can live with that! Recommended.