Fighter! The Story Of Air Combat 1936-1945

by Robert Jackson

Fighter The Story of Air Combat 1936-1945

Genres: Aviation, History

157 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Robert Jackson was born in 1941 in the North Yorkshire village of Melsonby. A former pilot and navigation instructor, his active involvement with aviation lasted many years. Following his retirement from the RAFVR in 1977 as a squadron leader, he became a full-time aviation writer and aerospace correspondent and lectured extensively on strategic issues. He speaks five languages, including Russian, and has written more than forty nonfiction works on military affairs. He is also the author of the popular Yeoman and SAS fiction series.

Reviews

[David Carniglia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The great cover art promises a lot, the sweeping nature of the title and subtitle offer even more. What we get is something of a mixed bag. There's a lot of fascinating detail here, especially the more obscure early campaigns over Manchuria and Spain. Plus information on most of the fighter aircraft of all the major and many of the minor belligerents.

In fact, it seems there's almost an omniscient knowledge of patrols, raids, and dogfights: we get the pilot's names, ranks, experience, even peculiarities of individual aircraft. This is all the more amazing since, writing in 1979, Cold War hot as ever, Jackson managed to get this level of detail even on Soviet operations.

The tactical discussions might be the most interesting stuff. Not only officual doctrine regarding formations, maneuvering, etc., but, again, the role of individuals who developed their own deadly tricks. Not surprisingly, each nation had aces who had a wider impact on both their own and enemy pilots.

Fighter! is a unique book. But there seems to be a larger picture that's not accessible here. If we view the book as a supplement or sidebar to a larger discussion of WWII aerial combat, then it's great. But, as is, Fighter! omits strategy, higher level personalities, and, for the most part, the ebb and flow of the war.

Even so, looking on, as we do, at the nuts and bolts level, we're left without pictures, charts, tables, graphs, footnotes, or an index. Had there been charts showing the relative performance of notable fighters at different junctures (say, '39, '41, '44-'45) then it would've made a bunch of the descriptions in the text jump out, instead of having to flip back and forth to compare.

Having said all that, there's plenty of tidbits for the WWII historian/enthusiast to keep up interest. For example, the on-going improvement of the more successful types (Spitfire, ME-109, P-51, etc.) is a topic in itself. The German jet history gives plenty of perspective on those innovative craft.

The book could be twice as long; with supplemental information, even longer. Interesting, but not as a general history for this subject.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Regurgitation of facts with no introduction, no background, and no examination of historical context.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable little book. Using a lot of anecdotes and lots of background information, Jackson tells the overall story of the WWII era air warfare by breaking it into very digestible, informative, but not exhaustive chapters. We start with the Spanish Civil War, with German, Italian, Russian, and oh, yes- Spanish pilots competing in what was a dress-rehearsal- and ends with a Chapter on the Me262, the Jet that ended the war and opened the Jet era. All along, we meet the planes, pilots and concepts which drove the fighter war. This is a book for all readers, and would be a great introduction for younger readers- but not a great analysis of the period. Just a good informative read.