Air War on the Eastern Front Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | January 2021 | Title | Air War on the Eastern Front |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Mike Guardia | Publisher | Casemate |
| Published | 2020 | ISBN | 9781612009087 |
| Format | 128 pages, softbound | MSRP (USD) | $24.95 |
Review
Seeking a handy handbook on WWII’s epic aerial struggle between Nazi Germany and Communist Russia?
Try Air War on the Eastern Front in the “Casemate Illustrated” range.
Author Mike Guardia’s coverage spans 128 lavishly illustrated, indexed pages – and recaps key campaign aircraft and actions.
Period photos and color profiles illustrate the effort. Maps put events into geographic perspective. And extended captions and sidebars augment the account.
But the 37mm cannon-equipped, “antitank” Il-2 failed to pass Soviet military trials. Any Dornier Do 17 forward fuselage hardly “resembled [that of] the He 111”. And that’s an early Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk – not “Warhawk” – on page 89.
Lack of annotations further forces readers to glean possible origins of quotes and contentions from Guardia’s selected bibliography of secondary sources.
Nitpicks aside, this slim survey provides a quick, convenient intro to the deadly totalitarian duel. Make it a launchpad to further study of Eastern Front air combat in WWII.
With thanks to Casemate Publishing for the review copy!