[veltro]

Larry,

my own opinion is simply that, my own. Neither do I pretend to put at stake my presumed reputation to denigrate anyone, nor - on the other hand - I am willing to accept the equation "it's all that it is available in English, so let be satisfied with that..."

Also (and this is aimed at no one, but it's always valid in general) it is not a listing of sources that makes a good and well researched work, but rather what you do with them.

Last but not least, so little is still relatively known about the Regia Aeronautica abroad that certainly a work like that of Dunning has its indisputable merits, but the other side of the coin of that "little known" is that many statements, units quoted and so on have nothing to be checked against - in English -, so all has to be taken - for an English-speaking reader - with face value.

Since the post of cheruskeradmin clearly showed a rather deep level of research and a good knowledge of the particular topic, a work like that of Dunning (attempting to deal in a single volume with a whole Air Force through three years and no less than five operational fronts) simply seemed to me to fall rather short of the level of detail requested.

This is not to undermine that book, but rather to put in a more correct perspective its field of use, since even the best Swiss pocket knife cannot replace a proper tool. Always IMHO, of course..