- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: The Crowood Press Ltd; First Edition edition (26 Oct 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1861261772
- ISBN-13: 978-1861261779
- Product Dimensions: 27.7 x 21.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,516,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
With its inverted gull-wing and vertical diving ability, the JU 87 was one of the most readily identifiable planes of World War II. This volume tells its story, from the design, development and operational use in the Battle of Britain, to its post-war career in Europe, North Africa and Russia.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting angle on the Stuka history,
By
This review is from: Junkers JU 87 Stuka (Crowood Aviation) (Hardcover)
It feels as if Peter C Smith has written this book to clear the memory of the Stuka from the calumny of fighter jocks and ill-informed British and American historians.The Stuka is often described by aviation historians as a slow and vulnerable aircraft that had outlived its time by the Battle of Britain; Smith rather portrays a nimble, sturdy, versatile precision weapon with an impressive record - in truth he waxes quite panegyrical over both the aircraft and the crews that flew them, the Stuka comes across as the ultimate war weapon. British claims of Stukas shot down are contradicted by Smith using German loss records; on the other hand, some of the attacks on British airfields and such that Smith describes as extremely successful, catching the RAF with their trousers down, are downplayed by other historians as attacks on obsolete aircraft at second-line airfields, so one is left a bit confused here. The invasion of Crete is described as a great success by Smith, even though it was quite Pyrrhic in nature. In fact, after a while one gets the impression that Smith is a bit upset that the Germans lost the war despite being so clever and brave. (In fact the only even faintly bad thing said about the German regime in the book is at the end, when they are called a "ruthless dictatorship", but even then only to say Nazism was less so than Communism...) Attacks on British shipping are described in meticulous (not to say nauseating in some parts) detail. One is impressed not only by how hard the fighting was in areas that in many WWII histories are mentioned only in passing, but also by how huge the Royal Navy must have been at the time to survive such losses. The later history of the Stuka on the Eastern Front is not given in quite as fine detail, perhaps due to the lack of sources (most likely books such as "Black Cross/Red Star" will remedy this). The photographs are of good quality, though apparently with somewhat lower contrast than the originals, as many times features pointed out in the captions as clearly visible require some effort to make out. One would have wished for some three-view drawings to help with clarifying the distinctions between different variants of the Stuka. Still, this is a very readable book and in combination with more drawings-and-profiles oriented books such as, e g, John Weal's "Stukageschwader 1937-41", gives excellent depth to the subject.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not a complete history,
By
This review is from: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka: A Complete History (Hardcover)
I come late to this book as I have so many books on the Ju 87 how could I justify another, and by the same author? I feel into the temptation of the the title "A Complete History....." and thankfully bought it at a greatly reduced price than the cover indicated.Whilst many areas of the Ju 87's operational history in the Stukageschwaders are very well covered, I was more than naffed off by the almost complete absence of comment on the extensive Stuka training organisations that supported and upheld the operational units. Smith devotes one page, yes one page, to Stuka pilot training, no full list of units and commanders or bases or the levels of training required to qualify a pilot, it is almost as if new Stuka pilots went from basic training to the front with no specialist assistance. A very 'incomplete history' in this respect. Then my next area of 'beef': the Stuka equipped Nachtschlachtgeschwader, only 18 pages out of 424, completely inadequate to explain the more than nuisance effect these units had on allied moral. I have found nothing so far on the Stuka equipped Schleppegruppen. Not a very 'complete history' in the area of more obscure operations and operators. Next beef, the awful picture quality: simply not up to the standard of Classic or say Eagle Publications recent work, Crecy needs to significantly raise it's bar in this area; this will be the last book from their stable I order with having seen a copy in the flesh. Almost finished 'beefing' next the coverage of emblems and unit insignias is dire: if I look at Stukageschwader emblems in my collection I count up wards of 60 not including Nachtschlactgeschwader and training organisations. Smith illustrates 6 (only 6!) in the emblems section and a number in photos and profiles, in my view totally inadequate coverage, and again not a 'complete history'. My last beef: the awkward size of the book it being 424 pages at under A4 size making this a 'fat' shelf hugging book of disproportionate volume. Surely Classic (and many other publishers) with their 'A4 plus' size books have shown the way? One of the big drawbacks of Crecy opting for this unusual size is that, as well as the poor picture reproduction, most of the images are squashed and far too small to be useful as references. If you want to read about the development of the Stuka and operational aspect of the Stukageshwader in a campaign setting then this book is excellent, but it is most definitely NOT a complete history. Would I have purchased this again unseen? Probably not, but as I am a 'Stukaholic'........
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for Stuka buff,
By benredbone "redboneben" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Junkers JU 87 Stuka (Crowood Aviation) (Hardcover)
Peter C. Smith is the author several out of print and currently available books on the Stuka. This book is thorough and well researched, detailing many minor details and little known facts about this well known aircraft. The photos are all b&w and not as valuable as many other books on the market for model builders. There is a lot of "meat" in this book and must be read to be appreciated, however there is usually one or two photographs on every page that illustrates the corresponding text.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Accurate, very good,
By cpt matt - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Junkers JU 87 Stuka (Crowood Aviation) (Hardcover)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Much more than a nuts & bolts history of the development of the JU-87 Stuka, Peter Smith sets about to present an other version of this dive bomber's successes compared to the typical English & US histories. Although technical and developmental details are present, along with many fine photos (all black & white, would have preferred a few color), the real heart of this book are the stories behind the Stuka. The pilots, the sorties are recountered here. Also of great interest to a land warfare buff are the stories of air/land battles, the coordination behind the blitzkreig, how the army & airforce learned to work together to beat foes that outnumbered them & had better equipment. Smith also uses facts to back up his position that the Stuka as a bomber, suffered losses less than Lancasters, B-17s, Bristol Blenhiems when those aircraft were used in daylight raids without escort. In the end, it really doesnt matter if the Stuka was a war winner. The Germans were outnumbered, outproduced, outfought, so no matter what was produced, the end result would be the same. While the Stuka was not a war winner, this book does provide more balance to the fact that it was a good weapon system, especially considering it was on the cutting edge of technology when designed in 1933/34. It survived to fight through the last days of WWII, a claim few others can make. I definately recommend this book. |
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