BODY OF THE TEXT

Osprey Publications Ltd has released Spitfire Aces of North Africa and Italy as Number 98 in their Aircraft of the Aces series. It is a paperback book with 96 pages. Included with the text are black and white photographs, color illustrations, and detailed captions. It has a 2011 copyright and the ISBN is 978-1-84908-343-0. The book examines and discusses the Spitfire Aces in North Africa and Italy during World War Two.

THE CONTENTS

Chapter 1 – Spitfires Over the Sands
- Chapter 2 – El Alamein and Beyond
- Chapter 3 – Torch to Tunis
- Chapter 4 – Across the Mediterranean
- Chapter 5 – Italy – The Long Flog
- Chapter 6 – Over the Aegean and the Balkans
- Chapter 7 – Victory!
- Appendices
* Spitfire Aces of North Africa and Italy.
* Aces with some Spitfire claims in North Africa and Italy.
* Aces who flew Spitfires in North Africa and Italy but made no claims.
- Color plates commentary
- Index

THE TEXT

The text in the book is well written and extremely detailed. I didn't notice any spelling or grammar errors as I read through the book. Andrew Thomas covers the Spitfire aces very well and goes into great detail in the various campaigns and the actions taken there and various related incidents. Anyone interested in Spitfires, Spitfire aces or World War Two British aviation will find this book very informative and interesting.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

There are a total of 88 black and white photographs throughout the book. Most of the photographs are nice and clear, however there are some that have an out of focus look to them and some appear to be too dark. I have seen several military photographs that have this look to them so maybe that is just typical. I do know that several military photographs are actually stills taken from video so that could be one reason. With that said the quality of the photographs is of no fault of the author.

THE COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS

There are 9 pages of color aircraft illustrations by illustrator Chris Davey which cover a total of 36 aircraft and they are very well done. The color plates commentary at the back of the book provides detailed information about each aircraft shown. The front cover art was done by artist Mark Postlethwaite.

THE CAPTIONS

The captions are well written and are very detailed and explain the accompanying photographs well. I didn't notice any spelling or grammar errors.

CONCLUSION

All in all I am very impressed with the book. It details the Spitfire aces of North Africa and Italy very well. I would have no hesitation to add other Osprey titles to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others.

REFERENCES

http://www.acesofww2.com/UK/UK.htm

http://jpgleize.perso.neuf.fr/aces/ww2gbr.htm

http://www.ww2study.com/planes.html

http://www.chuckhawks.com/spitfire.htm