Malta: The Spitfire Year, 1942 Book

I fear I will become a broken record on books by Mr. Shores... but I enjoy bearing good news to those of you who care. This is an outstanding book. Period. Maybe even in CAPS.

I simply love the way the story is told, and how each time period (be they days or weeks depending on the activities) is analyzed and references compared so you the reader can make an assessment on the facts. The downright critical comments on the poor accuracy of pilot's claims is refreshing, even including actual interviews where memories appear a bit fuzzy or rusty. The willingness to demonstrate the fallibility of memories and show over and over how eyewitnesses can be seriously poor on gathering facts lends significant credence to my belief that first hand accounts are of value in only setting a mood or tone... facts generally need to be found elsewhere.

The book is of course well written, and very logically presented. The additions by Mr. Cull and Mr. Malizia are critical to the success of this series as it gives so much more flavor to hearing about both sides of a particular engagement or fight. The daily grind from the Axis side is not well developed, but that is not unexpected as the primary view is allied-centric.

Anyone with an interest in military aviation would greatly benefit from reading this book (or any others by the authors for that matter). This is a completely solid 5-Star book, and will be certainly on my "Re-read List" in the future.