Nightfighter: Battle for the Night Skies (Cassell Military Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Harboring a long time interest in night fighters born of first-hand experience, when I came upon a used hardcover copy of this book, I bought it. In this short (less than 220 pages of text) book, Mr Delve covers the entirety of night fighting from World War I through 1995, when the book was originally published. 30 pages are spent on World War I, 10 on the interwar years, 149 on World War II and finally, 22 on the post war period until the 1990s. Mr Delve rightly spends the vast majority of the book on German and British efforts against each other during World War II which is when the vast majority of action and innovation occurred. 5 appendices provide interesting supplemental data about somewhat random subjects.
I enjoyed learning of the origins in World War I when the only way to find the enemy was sound, ground spotlights or an extremely lucky visual pickup. German Zeppelins raided England, spawning the need for night defense. World War II provided the catalyst to innovate. Ground and airborne radar, Ground-Controlled-Intercept (GCI), various electronic measures and countermeasures (ECM) etc. Finally, a vary broad summary of the postwar years.
That being said, the book left me with more questions than answers and no where to get them. Not a single footnote or endnote to lead a reader to more information. No bibliography whatsoever.
With all the gadgetry in World War II, there was little or no explanation of the equipment or how it worked, only mention of names. What was the difference between a British Mk I and Mk VIII radar? The reader never knows. Why was the magnetron such an important invention for the British and Americans? What IS a magnetron? Don't know. Numerous mentions of code names for gadgets (Naxos, Monica etc) with no glossary for easy reference. Nonetheless, the World War II sections are generally interesting, if frustrating to read. Numerous grammatical and spelling errors litter the pages.
However, it is the postwar analysis where the book runs off the road. There is a photo of a US Navy F9F Panther wrongly identified as an F2H Banshee. There is a photo of a YF-22 with not a single mention of it in the text. The 1991 Gulf War is identified as the largest military conflict since the Korean War, a fact that the 58,000 Americans killed in Vietnam would surely dispute if they could. The Gulf War is declared to have had "no night aerial action". I suspect the MiG-29 shot down by the F-15 of USAF Capt J Kelk shortly after midnight on the first night of action might argue the point. Not a single mention is made anywhere of Night Vision Goggles (NVGs), in widespread use long before the book was published. The author declares that, in modernity, the Night Fighter and the All-Weather Fighter have morphed into the same creature. Long experience has taught aviators that no amount of technology or training will ever turn night into day.
If what you want is a "50,000 foot view" of night fighting, this book might fit the bill. Otherwise, I will continue to look elsewhere.

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