[Frank Olynyk]

Chris Shores has asked me to post a response to the concerns about Air War for Burma. Thus:

Readers of Chris Shores's books will know that he has been writing now for some 40 years. Having retired from his 'day job', he is now doing quite a lot of travelling, which means that he is not always where people want him to be at the time they want !!

He completed and handed over the Burma manuscript on time, but at a time when Grub Street were involved in "putting to bed" several other books - and it needs to be remembered that Grub Street is a very small publisher with only one aviation editor. It thus happened that the editor was hoping that Chris would input corrections, provide selected photos and captions during March. But in March Chris was due to be away for three weeks in the Indian Ocean.

By the time he got back and did this work, Grub Street wanted to programme proof reading and indexing in for June - but in June Chris was touring Eire. He could not therefore undertake this work until the end of the month. That might have allowed a July publication (just), but in July Chris is in Russia for two weeks, so launch has to await his return at the start of August. Thats the way these things happen chaps !

Please also remember that Chris has already produced the Billy Drake autobiography (which he in fact 'ghost-wrote') and the editing and re-writing of the Japanese Army Air Force fighter units and aces book, plus volumes 1 and 2 of 2nd TAF - and Vol 3 thereof, which is just about finished, all in the last two years. Plus of course 'Those Other Eagles' - the one that took the most work of all !
Frank.