Cassell Military Classics: Sky Battles: Dramatic Air Warfare Actions

by Alfred Price

Go above the battlefields of World War I to the Tornado Raids of the Gulf War--17 true combat tales put you in the cockpit in low altitude attacks, battling over the Coral Sea, in Berlin, and aloft in the skies of Vietnam and the Falklands. Special boxed sections provide detailed aircraft information.

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Alfred Price seved for 16 years as an aircrew officer in the Royal air Force where he specialised in electronic warfare and air fighting tactics.

He left the RAF in 1974 and thereafter he worked full time as a writer on aviation subjects.

He holds a PhD in history from Loughborough University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Reviews

[Alan Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Price is a highly accomplished writer on aerial combat, and in Sky Battles he provides quick, thumbnail sketches of air warfare from 1918 to 1991 (WWI to the (first) Gulf War). No deep insights here, although his analysis of why the Me-262 did not turn back the US bomber tide is incisive and persuasive (the tech was not mature, notably the engines, and US air supremacy precluded building enough airframes and engines, getting them to the operational fields (fuel shortages meant new 262s were sent by train from the factory), nor could Germany train enough pilots.

I also highly recommend his earlier books One Day in a Long Way (Vietnam, May 1972), Air War South Atlantic (Falklands 1982), and The Hardest Day (Battle of Britain, 1940).

[Melo Scanlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of stories that cover use of aircraft for operational war-time missions throughout the history of flight. Excellent descriptions and analysis. Gives one a clear and comprehensive picture of a wide variety of aircraft and their (sometimes unique) uses.

[Sam Bray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative

[Mike Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Price has written extensively about air warfare, and he's apparently very knowledgeable. His writing is by no means elegant, though, and the stories he chooses to tell vary considerably in quality. Still, I found this useful in preparing to teach a course in aviation history. A couple of the stories, e.g. "By Zeppelin to Africa" are both historically interesting and amusing for the modern reader.