Eagles In The Southern Sky

[mars]

"Eagles In The Southern Sky:THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF JAPAN'S MOST FAMOUS AERIAL COMBAT UNIT IN THE SKIES OF NEW GUINEA"

'EAGLES of the SOUTHERN SKY' is a book which encapsulates the complete history of the Tainan Naval Air Group in New Guinea, from 1 April through to mid-November 1942 (please note that it does not cover the East Indies or Guadalcanal campaigns). The book sets new landmarks for historical detail, with many 'Firsts'. For the first time both the Japanese and Allied accounts have been fully reconciled. The text is enhanced by:
- color profiles of 27 Tainan Zero fighters with a history of each aircraft, color profiles of 41 Allied aircraft against whom they fought, including RAAF No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawks, as well as numerous profiles of Japanese aircraft with whom the Tainan fought alongside;
- rare photos, never published before, from both the Allied and Japanese side;
- 26 paintings of combat over New Guinea, with reference material being aerial photography of the areas of New Guinea over which the Tainan fought;
- detailed appendices including losses, Tainan markings, crew rosters, and reference appendix.


http://www.tainanbooks.com/

[Nokose]

Looks like it will be a good book as it covers from both sides.

[edwest]

Gentlemen,


It appears to me that World War II aviation research and publishing is alive and well. Good news.




Ed

[mars]

Some update from their site:
"
We anticipate 'Eagles of the Southern Sky' will be available by mid October 2012. ALL orders including wholesale can be made via www.pacificghosts.com. Our distributors are below. Please note that the websites are not yet ready to take orders for 'Eagles':
Delivery for U.S/ Canada - www.pacificghosts.com
Delivery for Australasia/Pacific - www.avonmorebooks.com
Delivery for Europe/ Rest of World - yet to be announced."

http://www.tainanbooks.com/

[Jukka Juutinen]

Thanks for the update!

[mars]

Now this book is available at http://www.pacificghosts.com/

[John Beaman]

I've not seen any posts/reviews of this book since the above date. I am now about 3/4s through it I can say it is an extraordinary book. It is a highly detailed narrative about the aerial campaign over New Guinea/Port Moresby in 1942. The sub-title led me to think it might be only from the Japanese side, but it includes great detail from both sides.

Lest you think this is a tedious narrative of day to day ops, it is, but not overpowering like some books published in recent years. It has lots of "there I was" type personal stories neatly woven into the book. It is not a tedious read by any means except for the authors' use of Japanese names for their aircraft, but one gets used to that.

Lots of new photos, or old ones ID'ed.

Of course, for some of us, Saki Saburo's book was a primary source for this campaign. This book exposes, gently, a lot of flaws in his book which have been known about for years. This is no slam against him, but let's just say that Martin Caiden did him a disservice (as he has for so many).

The amazing thing is twofold:

1. Everyone overclaimed, a lot. Not really a surprise, but not often said.

2. The RAAF P-40s and USAAF P-39s, B-25s and 26s did really well, all things considered--not the slaughter or debacle that some books indicate.

The most interesting aspect it that the book was written by non-Japanese authors, although it is obvious that they has access to a lot of Japanese sources apparently, previously, unavailable to Westerners.

Highly recommended if you are interested in this period.