JANE'S FIGHTING AIRCRAFT OF WORLD WAR II

JANE’S FIGHTING AIRCRAFT OF WORLD WAR II With over 1000 illustrations Airpower dominated World War II. For the first time in the war, aircraft played the decisive role, revolutionizing the way in which wars have been waged since then. Aircraft were responsible for the destruction of whole cities – Dresden and Hamburg were burned to the ground – and it was air power that delivered the ultimate weapon, the atomic bomb, which hastened Japan’s surrender. On land, armies depended upon air power; the German Stukas spectacularly demonstrated this during the early Blitzkrieg campaigns.

At sea, all kinds of warships, from battleships downwards, were destroyed in the air, and the aircraft carrier became the principal capital ship of the warring navies. At Midway, one of the great turning points of the war, the enemy fleets were never in direct contact: the decisive blows were delivered by aircraft.

This edition of Jane’s Fighting Aircraft present photographs, line drawings and data tables for all of the many aircraft types that took part in World War II, including those of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Based upon the best contemporary edition of this world-famous reference book, it provides the reader with a uniquely authoritative single-volume encyclopedia. The information and data are presented in the exciting and graphic style that has made Jane’s ultimate military reference.

For this new edition, the book has been completely redesigned in a larger and easier-to-handle format, and the addenda and amendments of the original editions have been integrated into their appropriate places in the text. The basis of this volume was the first uncensored edition of Jane to be published after the close of World War II. It therefore represents the best single reference coverage of the war years.

Bill Gunston, internationally respected authors on aircraft and aviation history, has contributed a foreword placing the book and its subject in historical perspective. Now, fifty years after the beginning of World War II, this special edition of Jane’s Fighting Aircraft provides an invaluable and fascinating guide to the fighters, bombers and transport aircraft of World War II. The authoritative review of the airpower of 68 countries over 1000 entries.