Osprey Aviation Books: Which Ones Are Inaccurate?

[DrumBob]

I have a pretty vast collection of Osprey Aviation books, well over one hundred and counting. I have bought most of them used on Amazon or Ebay, and about ten or so from a great military bookshop in Gettysburg. I'll be going back in early June.

I've seen it mentioned here that some, if not many, of these Osprey books contain inaccuracies. Can anyone pinpoint which ones are inaccurate? Chances are, I already have these books in my collection. I'm sure many of you are much more well informed than I, insofar as historical accuracy. I have caught a couple of mistakes here and there, as well as typos and questionable grammar and punctuation. I have also noticed that the writing style tends to sound the same, book and after book, regardless of who the author was. Being a writer well aware of editors who change my work, I would think Osprey requires their authors to conform to a certain style of uniform writing. Has anyone noticed this?

 

[MIflyer]

I am pretty sure it is an Osprey book that has an article on building the Accurate Miniatures A-36A or P-51-1 in which they do an exquisite job of showing how to add wiring details to the SCR-274-N radios - and get it completely wrong. The 274-N had wiring located so it was all but invisible in those kinds of installations, about the only exception being the antenna wires. They could not have gotten that kind of info as a result of research or consultation with experts; they must have made it all up.

 

[FalkeEins]

Can anyone pinpoint which ones are inaccurate? Chances are, I already have these books in my collection.

there are certainly one or two 'early' titles in the 'Aces' series that could usefully be 're-done' ....personally I'd be more interested in finding out what the sales figures were/are and why some titles are written and others never appear. I once asked French author editor/publisher CJ Ehrengardt (co-author Ms 406 Aces title) why he hadn't written anything on the D.520 for Osprey. His answer; English speaking aviation fans aren't interested in French planes- Osprey didn't want to know. He told me that his own Ms 406 book was 'officially' the worst selling title in the Osprey Aces series.

 

[Greg Boeser]

there are certainly one or two 'early' titles in the 'Aces' series that could usefully be 're-done' ....personally I'd be more interested in finding out what the sales figures were/are and why some titles are written and others never appear. I once asked French author editor/publisher CJ Ehrengardt (co-author Ms 406 Aces title) why he hadn't written anything on the D.520 for Osprey. His answer; English speaking aviation fans aren't interested in French planes- Osprey didn't want to know. He told me that his own Ms 406 book was 'officially' the worst selling title in the Osprey Aces series.

Well, he made his dime off me!

 

[KAKI3152]

Basically, I have found Osprey Aviation titles to be fairly accurate, with some of them being the best source on a particular subject. The Japanese titles (Ki-43, Ki-44) have some great information. I did find an inaccurate piece of of information in the Mediterranean B-24 volume by Bob Dorr. I wrote him but never received a reply.