Spitfire Ace of Aces

[Frank Olynyk]

Dilip Sarkar has written three books on Johnnie Johnson. The first two were a pair: Johnnie Johnson: Spitfire Top Gun, Part One and Part Two. Part One was published in 2002 by Ramrod Publications; Part Two was published in 2005 by Victory Books. Spitfire Ace of Aces, published last year by Amberley, is 312 pages long; Part One is 211 pages, Part Two is 234 pages. The page size of Ace of Aces is slightly larger than that of the other two books. Ace of Aces is basically a combined edition of Spitfire Top Gun, with some material deleted. In particular the photographs have been pruned back to those directly related to Johnson; page 172 of Top Gun Part Two has a photo of Chris LeRoux, and page 173 a photo of an overturned Tiger tank -- both gone. The text of Ace of Aces is usually exactly that of the two Top Gun books. Part Two ends in August 1944 when Johnson left operations; Ace of Aces has an additional chapter "Conclusion" 'A Marvelous Life'".

Conclusion: if you don't have the two volumes of Spitfire Top Gun, you will probably want Ace of Aces. I of course am a completist, so I have all three books. And no shelf space.

Enjoy!

Frank.