Published Aerospace Power Journal -Winter 2000 

In this new section of “Net Assessment,” you will find additional reviews of aviation-related books and CD-ROMs but in a considerably briefer format than our usual offerings. We certainly don’t mean to imply that these items are less worthy of your attention. On the contrary, our intention is to give you as many reviews of notable books and electronic publications as possible in a limited amount of space. Unless otherwise indicated, the reviews have been written by an APJ staff member.

Battle of Britain (1998, $19.95) and 12 O’Clock High: Bombing the Reich (1999, $29.95). CD-ROMs from TalonSoft (http://www.talonsoft. com), 9900 Franklin Square Drive, Suite A, Baltimore, Maryland 21236. Battle of Britain requires a Pentium 133 processor with 32 MB of RAM; 12 O’Clock High requires a Pentium 233 with 64 MB of RAM. Both need Windows 95/98 and a 4X CD-ROM drive.

Battle of Britain is a war game for the personal computer from noted designer Gary Grigsby. Players can command either the Royal Air Force (RAF) or the Luftwaffe in an air-superiority campaign based on the historical (1940) scenario or a hypothetical 1941 clash. The computer can provide an artificial enemy, or players can go against each other on the same computer or via E-mail. The program also provides an artificial staff to assist in selecting targets, planning missions, and so forth. The Luftwaffe wins (achieves preconditions deemed sufficient for Germany to launch the invasion of England) by destroying the RAF’s fighter capability and/or by bombing strategic targets. The RAF wins by preventing a German victory.

Expanding on the original game system, 12 O’Clock High simulates all or portions of the Combined Bomber Offensive. Depending on the scenario, players can command the Luftwaffe, all of the Allied air forces, just the RAF Bomber Command, or the US Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces. The program measures Allied victory conditions against a formula that combines Luftwaffe attrition with bomb damage of industrial and urban targets. The Luftwaffe player wins by preventing an Allied victory. For detailed reviews of both war games, see the reviews section of Aerospace Power Chronicles at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil.

The Biographical Dictionary of World War II by Mark M. Boatner III. Presidio Press (http://www. presidiopress.com), P.O. Box 1764, Novato, California 94948, 1996, 733 pages, $24.95 (paper).

Because one often wonders how authors go about making their selections for biographical dictionaries, Mark Boatner is to be commended for providing insight into his methodology (in an introduction and by providing a bibliography). Both the process (which selected about a thousand names, based on their frequency of occurrence in selected texts about World War II) and the general results seem reasonable. Some choices are rather interesting, however. For example, Guy Gibson rates two-thirds of a page, while Paul Tibbets isn’t included—which may be indicative of the origin and types of texts used in the selection. The biographical sketches also seem uneven, in that some are factual accounts ending in 1945, while others assess the person’s contributions or provide his or her postwar accomplishments. Billy Mitchell is another interesting case. Although he died in 1936, he rates a paragraph; curiously, though, the entry makes no real attempt to explain any impact he had on the war. These anomalies aside, The Biographical Dictionary of World War II is the most complete work of its kind, and readers interested in that war should find it a useful addition to their libraries.

Panzer Campaigns 2: Normandy ’44. CD-ROM. HPS Simulations (http://hpssims.com), P.O. Box 3245, Santa Clara, California 95055-3245, May 2000, $39.95. Minimum system requirements: Windows 95/98, Pentium 133 processor, 32 MB of RAM, and 200 MB of hard-drive space.

Normandy ’44 is the follow-on to HPS’s Smolensk ’41, which the company released to some acclaim last year. Both are operational-level war games that allow a player to command either Allied or German forces against a computer-controlled or human opponent. The program, which supports play via E-mail, local area networks, or the Internet, includes numerous scenarios, along with an editor. Documentation comes on the CD, and the program includes on-line help as well. For more details, see the review section of Aerospace Power Chronicles at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil.

Trust but Verify: Imagery Analysis in the Cold War by David T. Lindgren. Naval Institute Press (http://www.usni.org), 2062 Generals Highway, Annapolis, Maryland 21401, 2000, 222 pages, $32.95.

David Lindgren has written both a comprehensive overview of platforms used by photo interpreters during the cold war and an account of how information from imagery analysis has affected US policy. The book also discusses the reorganization of the imagery intelligence community in Washington, D.C., after Operation Desert Storm but lacks any new and revealing details. Perhaps it would prove useful as an introductory reader on the subject.

The EC-47 Experience by James C. Wheeler. Swearingen Ink (http://www.digital-ink.org), 125 Porter Industrial Road, Clarksville, Arkansas 72830, 1999, 240 pages.

This book details the missions of 42 EC-47s that engaged in tactical signals-intelligence work in the Vietnam War and provides an eyewitness account of their low, risky flights over the jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Flying from Tan San Nhut, Nha Trang, Pleiku, Vietnam, and later from air bases in Thailand, the 360th, 361st, and 362d Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadrons, together with the 6994th Security Squadron of the Security Service, created a new form of warfare. This collection of personal memoirs is a must for students of the Vietnam War.

Strategic and Tactical Aerial Reconnaissance in the Near East by Col Charles P. Wilson. Washington Institute for Near East Policy (http://www. washingtoninstitute.org), 1828 L Street NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20036, 1999, 122 pages, $19.95.

Colonel Wilson provides an overview of the SR-71 and U-2 aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles; their ability to gather intelligence; and the military uses of such data. His book details the aerial- inspection regime established by the United States at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur War of 1973 among Egypt, Syria, and Israel and discusses how the United Nations inspection of Iraq was supposed to work until abrogated by Iraq after Operation Desert Strike in 1998. Wilson’s compact analysis is applicable to other trouble spots in the world as well.

Warplanes of the Future by David Oliver and Mike Ryan. Salamander Books Limited (http:// batsford.com/salamander.html), 9 Blenheim Court, Brewery Road, London N7 9NT, 2000, 176 pages, £20.00 (approximately $32.20).

Warplanes of the Future opens with fourth-generation fighters, such as the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter, currently being designed and built and quickly moves to unmanned combat aerial vehicles of the future. A well-illustrated coffee-table book, it also covers new technology in the form of air-to-ground surveillance with the Royal Air Force’s Astor project; the Russian wing-in-ground effect craft, also known as Caspian Sea monsters; micro unmanned vehicles; and helicopters. Despite its RAF slant, Warplanes of the Future is still a marvelous study of emerging aircraft technologies.

F-86 Sabre Fighter-Bomber Units over Korea by Warren Thompson. Osprey Publishing (http:// www.osprey-publishing.co.uk), Elms Court, Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 9LP, United Kingdom, 1999, 128 pages, $19.95.

The best known American aircraft in the Korean War was the North American F-86 Sabre, which gained fame in its air-to-air triumphs over the MiG-15. Much less is known of the F-86F fighter-bombers that served well in the last months of the war in two US Air Force fighter-bomber units.

Warren Thompson, a prolific and talented historian/writer, has produced an attractive small book on this aircraft, these units, and their air and ground crews. Profusely illustrated with large color photographs, the book documents all aspects of the aircraft’s service in this difficult and unglamorous role. The photos are clear and interesting, even if they become somewhat redundant after a while, and are accompanied by brief text, heavily laced with direct quotes from the crews, as well as descriptive captions. In addition, the book includes a two-page cutaway drawing of the Sabre and a page of specifications and performance notes. Aviation enthusiasts will enjoy the superior illustrations, and for those who know little about this aircraft, the text and captions will be enlightening.

Kenneth P. Werrell
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

MiG Alley. CD-ROM. Empire Interactive (http:// www.empire-us.com), 580 California, 16th Floor, San Francisco, California 94104, 1999, $24.95.

MiG Alley is a flight simulator for the personal computer that allows players to fly the F-86, F-84, F-80, F-51, or MiG-15 aircraft. At the basic level, players can plan and fly missions as part of historically simulated campaigns. Of more importance to APJ readers, a player can also act as the Far East Air Forces commander in a simulated 1951 campaign. For detailed accounts of this simulator, see the reviews section of Aerospace Power Chronicles at http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil.

Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon by Rory Muir. Yale University Press (http://www.yale.edu/yup), P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-9040, 1998, 352 pages, $16.95 (paper).

Rory Muir, the author of Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon, 1807–1815, attempts to characterize how the battles of the Napoleonic Wars were actually fought. He makes excellent use of the available data, both anecdotal evidence and statistics, to produce a synthesis of the most probable battle experience. This allows him to assess the effectiveness of the period’s combat arms (infantry, cavalry, and artillery) and tactics. For APJ readers, Muir’s methodology and the lessons that can be drawn from its application, rather than any insight into two- hundred-year-old tactics, make this book valuable.

F-51 Mustang Units over Korea by Warren Thompson. Osprey Publishing (http://www.osprey-publishing.co.uk), Elms Court, Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 9LP, United Kingdom, 1999, 128 pages, $19.95.

The Mustang, the best performing Army Air Forces fighter of World War II, was brought out of retirement to fly and fight in Korea. The US Air Force had largely reequipped its fighter forces with jets, but their limited range and the short, rough airfields in Korea made them less suitable than prop-powered aircraft. The F-51 did well and capped off its distinguished career with honor.

F-51 Mustang Units over Korea is the first of several pictorial books on US aircraft in the Korean War in Osprey’s “Frontline Colour” Series. All the illustrations are in color—many of them full or double page—and all are quite clear. Brief but serviceable text, much of which consists of anecdotes supplied by the air and ground crews, and rather complete captions support the photos, but the book contains neither footnotes nor bibliography. In brief, F-51 Mustang Units over Korea is a delight to the eye.

Kenneth P. Werrell
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Defeat in the West, 1943–1945, vol. 6, Luftwaffe at War Series, by Mike Spick. Stackpole Books (http://www.stackpolebooks.com/Stackpolebooks.storefront), 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055-6921, 1998, 72 pages, $13.95.

Well-known aviation author Mike Spick has added to the Luftwaffe at War Series published by Stackpole Books. Defeat in the West is yet another picture book chronicling the life and death of the Luftwaffe in World War II. Its 62 pages of pictures, eight of them in color, make this an interesting book for the collector or researcher of Luftwaffe aircraft. At only $13.95, it is a fairly good bargain.

Spick includes four interesting pages of commentary in addition to remarks pertaining to the photographs. Interesting facts about the defeat of the Luftwaffe fighter arm, especially during the first six months of 1944, could be eye opening for readers unfamiliar with this aspect of the air war. The quick synopsis of the air war over Europe in 1944 makes for interesting, albeit quick, reading. Overall, readers looking only for something that uncovers never-before-published facts about the Luftwaffe would probably be better off not buying this book. Collectors of this series, however, or readers interested in having a decent volume replete with pictures of Luftwaffe aircraft will definitely find that Defeat in the West complements their libraries.

Maj Robert Tate, USAFR
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.

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