25 July 2013

Thank you for your support

Just a quick little note to say thank you for visiting and continuing to support Aircrew Book Review's mission. I've just been checking my stats and the site is currently settling on about 2,000 visits per month which is decent traffic as far as I'm concerned. Obviously, for the sake of the books reaching a wider audience, I would like it to be a lot more than that but increased traffic is a direct result of increased activity on the site and ... we all know what I'm like there at times!

Watch this space for news on three new books from Fighting High.  All are the usual fare for FH - high-quality books featuring a Bomber Command story so certainly something to get excited about even though they've already been launched (the latest, an updated edition of Calton Younger's classic No Flight From The Cage, was launched at the Flying Legends airshow held at Duxford earlier this month).

I've also got a very different story to look at - a Canadian pilot who spent the war as an instructor and still owns and flies one of the Tiger Moths he trained on!  On top of that, publisher Pen & Sword has a number of new books out and is also reprinting the Alan Cooper series of Bomber Command titles (Bombers Over Berlin and Beyond The Dams To The Tirpitz for example) so I'll do a bit of a collective look at his 'back-list'.  It's always great to see older titles reprinted affordably for a new generation of readers.

While we're talking Bomber Command (and everyone seems to be these days ... finally), keep an eye out for Sherlock's Squadron by Steve Holmes.  I don't know anything about the book but have noted its recent publication and feel it will be a journey of discovery as a son uncovers his Dad's wartime flying career.

I strongly recommend two Australian-focussed books by established Australian authors and published by small, specialist Australian publishing houses.  Kristen Alexander's limited edition Australian Eagles is more than 70 per cent sold out less than a month after its launch so get in while you can.  A book set to mirror this performance is the new Lewis/Ingman collaboration Carrier Attack - Darwin 1942.  Happily, I believe this will clarify a lot of questions about the most devastating raid on Australian soil.  Like their Zero Hour In Broome (also published by Avonmore) and the recent Eagles Of The Southern Sky, CAD1942 features a lot of work derived from translated Japanese records.

Staying on the Australian theme, the RAAF's Air Power Development Centre has released a couple of high-quality softbacks about The Battle of the Bismarck Sea and No. 7 Squadron RAAF.  The latter, We Never Disappoint, is about a Beaufort unit so will make a very good companion for Colin King's excellent Song Of The Beauforts (also published by the APDC and great value for money).  I am not currently planning to feature either book (waiting on permission to put cover ads up) so please follow the link above to find out more.
Finally, the forthcoming reviews as listed at left are still being worked on.  They are a lot more involved than posts like this of course so take a lot longer with the little time I have.  When they're a title like Graham Drucker's Wings Over The Waves, the review becomes almost as epic as the book (that review is currently at 1,500+ words and not even half done ... a bit of culling to do once it's finished)!

As ever, I'm always pleased to see your comments and welcome your news of new and forthcoming books.  If I don't answer straight away, just imagine I am working feverishly on the next bit for ABR.  You're probably wrong but it's nice to dream!

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