Aircrew Book Review: Thank you for your support

25 July 2013

Thank you for your support

Just a quick little note to say thank you for visiting and continuing to support Aircrew Book Review's mission. I've just been checking my stats and the site is currently settling on about 2,000 visits per month which is decent traffic as far as I'm concerned. Obviously, for the sake of the books reaching a wider audience, I would like it to be a lot more than that but increased traffic is a direct result of increased activity on the site and ... we all know what I'm like there at times!

Watch this space for news on three new books from Fighting High. All are the usual fare for FH - high-quality books featuring a Bomber Command story so certainly something to get excited about even though they've already been launched (the latest, an updated edition of Calton Younger's classic No Flight From The Cage, was launched at the Flying Legends airshow held at Duxford earlier this month).

I've also got a very different story to look at - a Canadian pilot who spent the war as an instructor and still owns and flies one of the Tiger Moths he trained on! On top of that, publisher Pen & Sword has a number of new books out and is also reprinting the Alan Cooper series of Bomber Command titles (Bombers Over Berlin and Beyond The Dams To The Tirpitz for example) so I'll do a bit of a collective look at his 'back-list'. It's always great to see older titles reprinted affordably for a new generation of readers.

While we're talking Bomber Command (and everyone seems to be these days ... finally), keep an eye out for Sherlock's Squadron by Steve Holmes. I don't know anything about the book but have noted its recent publication and feel it will be a journey of discovery as a son uncovers his Dad's wartime flying career.

I strongly recommend two Australian-focussed books by established Australian authors and published by small, specialist Australian publishing houses. Kristen Alexander's limited edition Australian Eagles is more than 70 per cent sold out less than a month after its launch so get in while you can. A book set to mirror this performance is the new Lewis/Ingman collaboration Carrier Attack - Darwin 1942. Happily, I believe this will clarify a lot of questions about the most devastating raid on Australian soil. Like their Zero Hour In Broome (also published by Avonmore) and the recent Eagles Of The Southern Sky, CAD1942 features a lot of work derived from translated Japanese records.

Staying on the Australian theme, the RAAF's Air Power Development Centre has released a couple of high-quality softbacks about The Battle of the Bismarck Sea and No. 7 Squadron RAAF. The latter, We Never Disappoint, is about a Beaufort unit so will make a very good companion for Colin King's excellent Song Of The Beauforts (also published by the APDC and great value for money). I am not currently planning to feature either book (waiting on permission to put cover ads up) so please follow the link above to find out more.

Finally, the forthcoming reviews as listed at left are still being worked on. They are a lot more involved than posts like this of course so take a lot longer with the little time I have. When they're a title like Graham Drucker's Wings Over The Waves, the review becomes almost as epic as the book (that review is currently at 1,500+ words and not even half done ... a bit of culling to do once it's finished)!

As ever, I'm always pleased to see your comments and welcome your news of new and forthcoming books. If I don't answer straight away, just imagine I am working feverishly on the next bit for ABR. You're probably wrong but it's nice to dream!

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Welcome

Welcome to one of my silly ideas. I have been an avid reader of aircrew memoirs from the Second World War for as long as I can remember (not counting the various other interests that I have flitted to over time). I started collecting titles as found on Amazon but in the past few years have concentrated on books about the members of the RAF, FAA and Commonwealth air forces. I still maintain an interest in the operations of the USAAF, USN, Luftwaffe and Japanese forces but, as an Australian, you can probably understand where my heart lies!

Around about 2000, when I started collecting in earnest, I stuggled to find vast amounts of books on the subject. For those of you in the know this is a ridiculous thing to say as there are thousands of titles on the RAF alone.

In the past four or five years I have been fortunate to make some excellent friends in the UK and Australia who have helped broaden my knowledge of what's available and, in some cases, spend my money for me. In doing so, I have also corresponded with and met several authors and gained some insight into what it takes to put a well-researched book together. One of these days I hope to do the same but for the time being writing reviews and the occasional article will see me through as I gather what I need.

I have worked as a journalist in the past and run my own online magazine which was very time consuming and eventually led to another blog which is much easier to maintain. My interest in the aviation of the Second World War began with a school library book on The Battle of Britain when I was nine. Numerous plastic models, museum visits, magazine subscriptions, movies and Commando comics later I branched out into books like Squadron Signal's 'In Action' series (cheap for a teenager) and generalist titles covering certain aircraft. My first memory of a memoir (ha) was an oldish, secondhand copy of Alex Henshaw's superlative Sigh for a Merlin bought at a primary school market - incidentally, still the best Spitfire book I have ever read. I devoured it and although I haven't read it since (early 1990s) I can still vividly remember many of Alex's adventures testing this greatest of aircraft. One of these days I'll read it again.

My time as a journalist proper was short-lived as I had to make some decent money but it followed time as an accountant, truck driver and recruitment researcher. As of March 2010, I have stepped into commercial accounting which is a different kettle of fish and certainly not all spreadsheets and numbers (to be honest, the best job I have ever had).

Throughout my various incarnations I have maintained a fascination for what aircrew experienced during the war. I have been fortunate enough to meet several veterans and have even worked alongside some on a couple of major aircraft restorations down here in Australia. To a man I have found them friendly, modest and, at times, wondering what all the fuss is about. A gross generalisation perhaps but any variance would be understandable considering what they lived through. I know I could certainly not have done what they did in their late teens/early 20s. Fortunately, I have not had the opportunity to prove this otherwise and that's largely because of what these men (and women) sacrificed for what we have today.

Each book is a pleasure to read (even the not-so-great ones) and I try to convey what each is like to read without giving the game away too much. I also endeavour to let you know when or where I bought my copy and where it is available now as I try to review a mix of old and new titles (basically whatever takes my fancy at the time although when review copies come in, these take precedence). Honesty is at the core of everything I write on here so if something doesn't sit right with me or I feel it affects the 'experience' of the book, I will mention it.

Please feel free to recommend titles I may not be aware of or that you think would complement a reviewed title.

Cheers

Andy Wright

25 July 2013

Thank you for your support

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