This is the latest in Osprey's on-going series of aces. The title, in this case, may be a bit of a error. We, in the U.S. think of an ACE as someone who managed to get 5 kills. If this particular book was based on that it would be a foot thick and have over 5000 Luftwaffe pilot names in it. It does, however, list what the Luftwaffe refered to as EXPERTEN. Pilots who downed tremendous quantities of kills. You will find very familiar....and...some not so familiar names of these experten in this volume.
This new book is in the usual Osprey 9 3/4" x 7 1/4" format with a soft cover.
The cover art is by Lain Wyllie and pictures Hauptman Erich Hartmann, on February 4th, of 1945, downing a Soviet P-39 Airocobra. This is the only artwork in the book not done also by the author of the book; Weal.
The book contains 96 pages, 40 color profiles of various marks of the 109 used on the Russian Front, 127 black and white photos, 11 line drawings in 1/72nd scale, bibliography, index.
The book is 5 chapters long and tells the story of operations and the experten from Barbarossa on June 21st 1941 till the end of the war.
The appendices, at the rear of the book, gives a list of all the Eastern Front experten, thier kill totals, the dates of those kills, (including kills gotten earlier in other theatres..when applicable), a figure at which they attained their Knight's Cross, the oak leaves, swords, or diamonds, and what units they served with...plus the types of 109 they piloted.
This book has a wealth of information about this theatre of combat and is a great resource for color schemes for those 109 kits in your stash.
Weal has done about a half dozen titles in the Osprey series of books and has lent information to other authors for their books on the Luftwaffe. He speaks fluent German and has many contacts that provide valuable data about the Luftwaffe.
Highly recommended. If you haven't any of the Osprey line of titles in your home library I suggest you give them a hard look. You would not be disappointed. They are well worth the asking price.
