P-40 Warhawk Aces of the Cbi

I ordered this book as a reference for a P-40 model I was building, and found it to be everything I needed and more. Plenty of photos, color plates and great reference material. It's also a good read, so it goes beyond a reference book. I highly recommend this book, as well as any book by Carl Molesworth, as well as the entire Osprey line. They've always been a valuable resource.

I love the air war in the CBI, so even though I am a historian amateur, I have a good knowledge about the air aces of that theater since I have read every book about the 14th Air Force, Flying Tiger, and the 23rd Fighter Group. The one flaw I see in the book is the list of aerial victories by the CBI P-40 aces. Unless, the United States Air Force had revises the confirm air to air victories of its aces, I believes the air to air victory list is incorrect. Otherwise, I would have rate this book as five stars. John Hampshire is suppose to have 17 confirmed air victories. In the book, he is credited with 10 kills. Robert L. Scott is suppose to have been credited with 13 or 14 confirmed air victories. Like John Hampshire, Scott is also credited with 10 kills in the book. After Colonel Scott had walk the entire length of the Great Wall of China in the 1980s or 1990s, he should have set out to get confirmation on 9 aircraft he had claimed to shot down. The man was really tenacious in achieving his goals no matter how incredible the odds were against him. If he really had shot down 22 enemy craft, then the P-40 would be really be seen as the ultimate aircraft symbol that represent the air war in China.

In reading this well researched book, WW II Historians amateur and otherwise may be surprised to learn that the P-40 squadrons in this Theater had consistently excellent combat records against the Japanese Army Air Forces, not just in the AVG days but throughout the war.

An easy read, but not very detailed. However, it wasn't meant to be a technical analysis of the subject. I have read several books on this subject, so the names and events were familiar. If you have an interest in the CBI area of operations, you need this book. It's on my shelf as a keeper.

The book P-40 Warhawk Aces of the CBI goes into great deal with the AVG (American Volunteer Group) early battles with the Japanese fighters and bombers in early 1941 through to 1944. The colour plates of the P-40s are well detailed adn the archival photos and uniforms also bring the book to life. This book also interviews many of the aces of the AVG and show explicit deatil of aerial combat over china