WWI Books?

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Lucky13

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Aug 21, 2006
In my castle....
Are these a good buy?

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Those Centennial books are OK but lack the sort of detail I expect from a monograph. In fact monographs on WW1 types are really thin on the ground. The best in my experience are those done in association withn Cross & Cockade, notably "The De Havilland DH2 And The Men Who Flew Them" as well as the Sopwith Dolphin volume.

The recent (ish) Air Britain monograph on the Bristol Fighter is good too, but more of a serial number/history listing than an outright monograph.

Aside from that my two favourites are "Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance And Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front" by Terrence J Finnegan and "Dancing in the Sky : The Royal Flying Corps in Canada" by CW Hunt.

Also the biography "Barker VC" by Wayne Ralph is very well written.

Finally, a special mention for "The Sky Their Battlefield" by Trevor Henshaw, which is not a 'reading' book, but undoubtedly the best reference book for Allied daily losses in WW1. The second edition in particular is a masterpiece.
 
What is it out there, on the eastern front air war during WWI? 🤨🤔
Hi
Depends what you want to spend, but here are some options:
'The Russian Military Air Fleet in World War I - Volume I: A Chronology 1910-1917' by August G Blume, Schiffer 2010.
plus 'Volume 2: Victories, Losses, St. George Awards, Romanian and French Awards.
'The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War I' by Durkota/Darcey/Kulikov. Flying Machine Press 1995.
'Russian Aviation Colours 1909-1922' Camouflage and Markings by Khairulin/Stepanov, Vol. 1 Early Years, Vol.2 Great War, MMP Books 2015 and 2016. There are another two volumes that relate to the Civil War.
'Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One' by Grosz/Haddow/Schiemer, Flying Machine Press 1993.
'Shooting the Front Eastern Operations Volume One - Without Flyers, No Tannenberg' by Finnegan/Jager/Bobrow, Dawdle Publishing 2022.
There will be others but it depends of what you are interested in.

Mike
 
Nachtjagd Combat Archive. last volume covers the Ost front air war at night; author ; Theo Boiten
 
What's is the must have books on Gallipoli, Verdun, Some, Ypres, Passchendale?
I imagine that Osprey is a bit of a start....

It all depends on what you're looking for. The bibliography on each of those battles is HUGE and could fill an entire library.

If you want a glossy book with lots of pictures, then the Osprey volumes are certainly a good start. Lyn McDonald did good books on Passchendaele and the Somme which, although a little old, are very readable with plenty of first-hand accounts. There's also a pair of photo-based volumes on the Somme and Passchendaele which are definitely worth a look. They're large and heavy tomes but worth it. "To Play a Giant's Part" is another good day-by-day book on Passchendaele.

The challenge is that many of these campaigns were so huge in scale that it's often difficult to get below Corps or Divisional level manoeuvres...which inherently takes the human out of the story.

Not sure I'm being helpful but hope the above gives you a few pointers.
 
I've seen the Osprey one's, thought that I'd start there, as they don't look too bad....
Photos are always welcome and appreciated....
I've come across Lyn McDonald on Amazon I think that it was, will look into her books as well....

That is true, it's a shame that we loose the human side of these battles, because of their sizes....

Very much appreciated as always! 🤜🏻🤛🏻🍻
 

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