- Hardcover: 260 pages
- Publisher: Atlantic Books; First Edition edition (12 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843545276
- ISBN-13: 978-1843545279
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 15.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 292,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Adrian Swire, Spectator
`Elegant and meticulously researched... an authoritative and
comprehensive tribute to a unique aircraft.'
comprehensive tribute to a unique aircraft.'
Giles Whittell, The Times
`Superbly readable.'
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The main thing to be aware of when considering the purchase of this book is that a substantial section of this book is not about the spitfire aircraft as such. About 40% of the book is about other fighter aircraft contemporary with the spitfire or about the spitfire in comics and films. Had the title made this clearer, there would not have been much to gripe about. The content of the book appears detailed and well-researched with information I had not seen before. Not a bad buy but not what you might have expected.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a book that I read in a weekend and could not put it down. Yes it compares the Spitfire with other aircraft of its generation, but it is this comparison that brings out the genius that was R.J Mitchells masterpiece.
The book deals with all aspects of the Spitfire and where the auther thinks criticism is justified it is levelled. It does however look at the legacy not just of the aircraft itself but the whole aura that surrounds it.
If you have an interest in WW2 aircraft, in that period of our countries history or you are a bulge baby like me you will love this book.
The book deals with all aspects of the Spitfire and where the auther thinks criticism is justified it is levelled. It does however look at the legacy not just of the aircraft itself but the whole aura that surrounds it.
If you have an interest in WW2 aircraft, in that period of our countries history or you are a bulge baby like me you will love this book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am not sure what this book is supposed to be. It is a 'fan book' in that the author is clearly a great fan of a great plane. So long as you go into it with that in mind you will have a great read. For Spitfire purists this might seem a lesser important contribution to the already extensive coverage of this plane.
That's the problem in a way - I thought everything that could possibly be written about this plane had already been covered. Publishers are guaranteed better sales if the book or magazine has a Spitfire on the cover. You could call it 'The Diana Syndrome' that endless seemingly inexhaustible fascination with a subject.
There is no doubt the author has put in the time with this book. I did find some interesting facts new to me. But as one other reviewer says there's a good deal of stuff in the middle which is not directly about the Spitfire rather it is about its opponents. This is fine but I found myself skimming through this as it was so slight in places. That's not surprising given the number of opponents that Spitfire crews faced. As he shows, this plane is special because it fought through the entire WW2 and even into later conflicts.
Perhaps instead he could have shortened this down and given us more about the survivors. There are lots of Spitfires still flying and some impressions of what they are like to fly and their history would be good. Plus there is little by way of setting the Spitfire as regards 'kills'. It was not the machine any of the top 'aces' used but maybe it was responsible for more kills than most Allied planes. Some analysis of this would be nice but perhaps this would be better tackled by someone like Mike Spick.
Personally, I would wait until this book comes out in paperback. Then you could take this with you on a long trip and enjoy the read.
That's the problem in a way - I thought everything that could possibly be written about this plane had already been covered. Publishers are guaranteed better sales if the book or magazine has a Spitfire on the cover. You could call it 'The Diana Syndrome' that endless seemingly inexhaustible fascination with a subject.
There is no doubt the author has put in the time with this book. I did find some interesting facts new to me. But as one other reviewer says there's a good deal of stuff in the middle which is not directly about the Spitfire rather it is about its opponents. This is fine but I found myself skimming through this as it was so slight in places. That's not surprising given the number of opponents that Spitfire crews faced. As he shows, this plane is special because it fought through the entire WW2 and even into later conflicts.
Perhaps instead he could have shortened this down and given us more about the survivors. There are lots of Spitfires still flying and some impressions of what they are like to fly and their history would be good. Plus there is little by way of setting the Spitfire as regards 'kills'. It was not the machine any of the top 'aces' used but maybe it was responsible for more kills than most Allied planes. Some analysis of this would be nice but perhaps this would be better tackled by someone like Mike Spick.
Personally, I would wait until this book comes out in paperback. Then you could take this with you on a long trip and enjoy the read.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good stuff about an amazing aircraft.
This is a very well written book and is crammed full of detail about the Spitfire's development and history. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. A. Moore
A living artifact?
If you took all the books ever written about the Spitfire and laid them end-to-end you'd only have to go and pick them all up again, but what you would appreciate is that there've... Read more
Published on 26 May 2008 by Michael Howe
It's better than that guys!!!!
When I bought this book on a whim it was for the purpose of gaining some trivial knowledge of an aircraft which I only had a vague interest in. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2007 by Keith McAllister
The Long Goodbye
This is an enthusiastic little book that's hard to dislike. The author is clearly a fan of the subject, and the book is a short and entertaining read. It rattles along. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2007 by Mr. A. Pomeroy
Love can be a little blind ?
I enjoyed it - again a holiday read, perhaps the author is a little biased, but maybe that's why he wrote the book. Read more
Published on 15 July 2007 by R. Parry
A great read, but not for the purists
Jonathan Glancey's enthusiastic and energetic account of perhaps the world's most famous aeroplane is full of boyish affection for its subject. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2007 by Jon Latimer
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
