Carrier War: Aviation Art of World War II

In a well-constructed book, author Paul Stillwell takes the reader through that period of maritime history which saw the aircraft carrier in WW2 suddenly thrust from a supporting to a leading role as a result of that infamous attack on Pearl Harbour. Cleverly laid out by someone who clearly knows his subject, Stillwell uses an excellent choice of artwork and historic photographs to underpin a text which takes the reader forward - almost step at a time, through some of the most defining moments of aircraft carrier history. Every so often he pauses to recount someone or something as an aside. The story of naval pilot Lieutenant Alberto C. "Silver" Emerson, lost over Guadalcanal in February 1943, is one such anecdotal example and makes the book all the more interesting because of its inclusion. Always pleasing to find an American historian who recognises the simple fact that the Royal Navy also operated aircraft carriers during the period in question, I found it particularly interesting to compare the work of different artists. I suspect all readers will immediately warm to whichever becomes their own favourite. Altogether an extremely interesting book from an author who applies great skill and knowledge to the task of telling the story of the aircraft carrier during WW2. I consider this book an excellent addition to my own library. NM

World War II exceeded all other wars in the amount of technical progress that it drove and in no area was it more pronounced than in naval warfare. Before it started, most naval planners still considered the battleship to be the pinnacle of battle tactics. To many naval minds, control of the seas would be determined by the opposing fleets of ships firing their powerful guns at each other until one side was destroyed or ran away. The only role envisioned for aircraft was as spotters who would inform the gunners where their misses landed so that they could adjust their aiming. The sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor changed all that. Within days of the attack, the American military planners concluded that the number and strength of the aircraft carriers would determine who controlled the Pacific. This book is a series of photos and paintings depicting naval aerial action during the war. While there are a few devoted to action in the Atlantic, the bulk describes what went on in the Pacific. Each picture and painting combination is accompanied by a caption explaining the action. The artwork is superb; some of the paintings are so real that I looked twice to see if it was in fact a slightly out-of-focus photo. The action of World War II has been captured in many ways. In this book you will find some of the most colorful and accurately rendered paintings of the events. The artists went to such lengths to accurately depict the scenes that the underwater survey of the Saratoga even shows the light from the flashlight held by one of the divers.

Maybe it's just a quibble, but when I picked up this book (based solely on the title), I was expecting something fairly different from what I ended up with.What I thought I'd get was a collection of World War Two-era paintings, with some informed comment about the scenes pictured. Instead, this book is essentially a history of carrier aviation and the naval war, one that happens to be illustrated primarily by paintings instead of photos. Indeed, the "aviation art" -- much of which is by contemporary artists -- takes a decided back seat to the history. The paintings are reproduced in large size and bright color, but receive scarce mention in the text. Information about the artists themselves is relegated to a few pages of small print in the back.This isn't to take anything away from Paul Stillwell, who is a fine historian (in fact, one of the paintings reproduced in this book, R.G. Smith's "Air Raid, Pearl Harbor," was earlier used as cover art for Stillwell's book on the December 7 attack). And many of the paintings themselves are excellent. I just think it might have been more accurate to advertise this as an illustrated history of naval aviation in World War Two, rather than as, essentially, a collection of aviation art.