What do you folks think of the 1970s crop of WW2 Aerial books?

[Felix C]

I was thinking of the Edward Jablonski books such as Airwar which I have in two volumes, Steve Birdsall's books as in Flying Buccaneers, Roger Freeman's ETO works.etc.

Still worth the read from the point of view of accuracy? I admit I enjoy them. Perhaps from nostalgia[as that was what I read as a kid] but the photos are impressive and the text is straightforward and pulls no punches . Do not often read about Allied pilots vomiting in the cockpits due to being sickened at strafing Japanese troops.etc.etc.

[edwest]

For me, all previously published books about World War II aviation have some value, especially the photos - if they are correctly captioned. On the German side, there must be thousands of photos that were not reprinted later. Perhaps a photo collection could be published in a multi-volume set. This would have value for researchers and model builders. Of course, the photo captions would have to be gone over for accuracy and unit emblems, personal emblems and other markings updated/corrected as well if needed.




Ed

[Chris Goss]

Interesting what you say Ed as this is what I am trying to do for Frontline Books next year. As a kid, I always liked Bryan Philpott's 'World War 2 Photo Album' (published by PSL) when he used BA photos. Problems are now that the captions are weak and inaccurate-what I will be doing will hopefully be to use new photos with as full captions as possible.

[Felix C]

The photos in Jablonski's PTO book about the Slot and New Guineau/Rabaul campaign are impressive. I have a book published soon after the war about aerial aspects which includes low-level strafing of japanese ships/barges/land targets which have not seen since.

[edwest]

Hi Chris,


A few thoughts. Perhaps they should be broken down into individual aircraft. The Me-109 with its different models, conversions, variants and sub-variants. As I recall, a reference book with all the combined types appeared which was a bit like a birdwatcher's guide. Or a kind of collection with an added bibliography for the reader to go further since allocating space is always an issue for any book. What to put in, what to leave out, etc. Perhaps you could solicit experts for advice since there are some that specialize in their "favorite" plane - fighter, bomber and other.

It also appears to be the case that books were published long ago that contained valuable images that were never reprinted. And I am always looking for the magic words - "contains new and unpublished photos."



Ed

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear All,

Quoting Ed:

"It also appears to be the case that books were published long ago that contained valuable images that were never reprinted. And I am always looking for the magic words - "contains new and unpublished photos.""

I see a couple of pitfalls in trying to republish photos of "dead" photos. Can someone still get their hands on the originals or have they gone to photo heaven? If you try to reprint directly from the book, then you'll have a second generation copy that will look like a second generation copy, with subsequent snipes by the experati.

Following this thought even further, the quality of photo images in books varies from excellent to terrible. But, overriding this is the realization that the photos are not analog or great digital, but subject to the limitations of the printing process used. When we scan from books for our personal use there is that nagging feeling that you wish you had a true photo to deal with. If you question my thesis, just get a magnifying glass out and look at that photo in the book. You'll be surprised how much your eyes have blended the image to try to make it look like it really is a photo when it is not, but only a printed version.

Regards,
Richard

[edwest]

Dear Richard,


Some publishing companies, or their successors, are still around. It would take time and effort but it may be possible to get high resolution scans of original photos suitable for printing. I scan original images on a large flatbed scanner where I work, which are sent on to the printer. A friend of mine who worked at a newspaper showed me photos from their files which they would scan or just throw away. What I saw consisted of local life and personalities from the town where he worked. And I know there are hard drives out there with photos. Just a thought.

Believe me, I know what happens when photos are scanned from publications, but if people want evidence, a low quality photo is sometimes better than nothing. I've also seen images reproduced from old books that looked good - not great - but good.



Best,
Ed

[Felix C]

I am having a difficult time retaining good resolution from a book published in 1916. Cheap wartime reproduction. The photos were dark to start and lose more detail. But you know, I am an amateur at this illustration aspect.