Some Future Titles of Interest for SPF Members

DWG said:

The British Aircraft Carrier: In Two World Wars Hardcover – 30 Mar. 2025​

by Norman Friedman

£50
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Thanks for the notice of this appealing book, DWG, which I find doesn't yet appear on American websites. From the subtitle, it seems Dr Friedman intends this to be a "world wars" volume for British carriers, with perhaps later a "postwar" volume, just as he did two volumes successfully on British submarines. A new richly dense Friedman tome arriving at my door is like a visit from an old friend; I look forward to being able to buy a copy next year.
 
For those of us who can never have enough books on the Harrier, this is out in February 2025

Harrier: The World’s First V/STOL Jet Combat Aircraft by Philip Birtles​

fonthill.media

Harrier: The World’s First V/STOL Jet Combat Aircraft

A comprehensive record of the iconic Harrier: its design, development and service, including combat operations in the Falklands, Kosovo and both Gulf Wars. Published in June 2024.
fonthill.media fonthill.media
 
Owens Z said:
Thanks for the notice of this appealing book, DWG, which I find doesn't yet appear on American websites. From the subtitle, it seems Dr Friedman intends this to be a "world wars" volume for British carriers, with perhaps later a "postwar" volume, just as he did two volumes successfully on British submarines. A new richly dense Friedman tome arriving at my door is like a visit from an old friend; I look forward to being able to buy a copy next year.
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Alternately, "and after" has been accidentally chopped off the subtitle, and the title was intended to match his Cruisers and Coastal Forces works. We'll have to wait and see. I do wonder how you would handle the longer-lived designs across two volumes; do you chop coverage of the Light Fleets in half?
 
GTX said:
Ditto
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I was looking up the July 2010 issue of Aircraft (Vol. 43 No. 7) in my local public library recently to read an article on Saunders-Roe's rocket fighters, when I happened to notice that in the same issue (pp 18-22) author Luigino Caliaro has an article about Italian aircraft in the Battle of Britain. The article reads well and is interesting. I saw that it bears the notice "translator Italo Battioli", so it seems Mr Caliaro did not write the article in English. Perhaps the same translator has been used for Mr Caliaro's recent books on Macchi fighters, Fiat fighters, and the S.79 Sparviero bomber. If so, since Tony Buttler (and Pasoleati and GTX) gave the Macchi book a rave review, then Italo Battioli must have done a fine job. I look forward to purchasing Mr Caliaro's books.
 
RocketJavelin said:
Thanks for the interest! Shaping the Vulcan explores the Victor design too, as an essential part of understanding the aerodynamics technology landscape at the time, and the choices that Avro made. Let’s see what the reaction is prior to thinking about any more books!

Steve
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Mr Liddle, I hope this new year is going well for you so far. I see that Mortons Books' website shows your forthcoming book Shaping the Vulcan with a publication date around mid-May 2025, and perhaps a month or two after that for American customers. Does that indeed sound about right?

I never had the privilege of seeing an Avro Vulcan in flight, but I saw XL318 inside the RAF Museum in northern London, and XJ824 at Duxford outside Cambridge. My knowledge of this stately vehicle (and the Victor and Valiant) comes from the 1973 book Bombers of the West by the noted Bill Gunston. And also Gunston's 1993 book Jet Bombers (although the Vulcan chapter was written by co-author Peter Gilchrist), and Aerofax's 2008 book Avro Vulcan: Britain's Famous Delta-Wing V-Bomber by Phil Butler & Tony Buttler. From the publisher's blurb, your forthcoming book promises to be even more detailed and in-depth than those earlier titles, about the technical developmental history at least.
 
 
 
 
Owens Z said:
Mr Liddle, I hope this new year is going well for you so far. I see that Mortons Books' website shows your forthcoming book Shaping the Vulcan with a publication date around mid-May 2025, and perhaps a month or two after that for American customers. Does that indeed sound about right?

I never had the privilege of seeing an Avro Vulcan in flight, but I saw XL318 inside the RAF Museum in northern London, and XJ824 at Duxford outside Cambridge. My knowledge of this stately vehicle (and the Victor and Valiant) comes from the 1973 book Bombers of the West by the noted Bill Gunston. And also Gunston's 1993 book Jet Bombers (although the Vulcan chapter was written by co-author Peter Gilchrist), and Aerofax's 2008 book Avro Vulcan: Britain's Famous Delta-Wing V-Bomber by Phil Butler & Tony Buttler. From the publisher's blurb, your forthcoming book promises to be even more detailed and in-depth than those earlier titles, about the technical developmental history at least.
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Hello!

Thank you very much for the interest. I am indeed hopeful that publication will be Q2 this year, although I don’t know about the American arrangements I’m afraid. I’m sure Morton’s could advise.

The aim of the book is to say something different. I’m an aerodynamicist by trade and so I’ve used that as the jumping-off point. The books you mention, and many others, offer great histories of RAF’s use and something about the development process. I wanted to really dig into the aerodynamic development and explain how the unique form came to be, and to an extent, how HP as the rival manufacturer came to very different conclusions. The book draws on the wind tunnel test reports from the RAE in particular, who conducted most of the high speed, high Reynolds number testing of the Vulcan and Victor, and contributed to the maths and the designing by hacksaw. The later development was shaped by politics as much as aerodynamics, and so I got to combine two of my interests.

Hopefully it will find an audience beyond its author!

Best wishes
Steve
 
Flyaway said:
NASA’s Lost Missions

NASA Lost Missions Operations Manual: 1965-2030 (Post-Apollo Program) An insight into the abandoned NASA concepts and studies planned to extend its space programme in the post-Apollo era: Baker, Dr. David: 9781785212116: Amazon.com: Books

NASA Lost Missions Operations Manual: 1965-2030 (Post-Apollo Program) An insight into the abandoned NASA concepts and studies planned to extend its space programme in the post-Apollo era [Baker, Dr. David] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. NASA Lost Missions Operations Manual...
www.amazon.com
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GeorgeA said:
Release date 12/31/2025??
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David Baker's Haynes Manual, NASA Lost Missions: 1964-75 (ISBN 978-1-78521-211-6), got as far as to have a front cover advertised (see attached) before the end of Haynes. This orphaned book project was subsequently adopted by Crécy Publishing of Manchester, England. A Crécy representative told me today that while the project remains active, it has seen further delays and won't be ready before 2026. So GeorgeA, the then far-future release date for which you expressed surprise will turn out to be an underestimate. I still expect the published book will be a worthwhile read, considering the interesting topic, and knowing of Dr Baker's rich previous works.
 

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GTX said:
Now available:

5314-entry-0-1734311925.jpg


Q-Birds - The Impact of American Manned Aircraft as Drones

  • Authors: Frederick A. Johnson & Frederick A Johnsen
  • Imprint: Hikoki
  • Extent: 202 Pages,
  • Dimensions: 8.3 x 11.7 in,
  • Photographs: Approx. 225
  • Cover: Hardcover
  • ISBN 9781800352797
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Finally got this book and it is great! Very complete and colorful. (I haven't seen so much Insignia Red in a long time!)
 
DWG said:
Alternately, "and after" has been accidentally chopped off the subtitle, and the title was intended to match his Cruisers and Coastal Forces works. We'll have to wait and see. I do wonder how you would handle the longer-lived designs across two volumes; do you chop coverage of the Light Fleets in half?
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sdmuleman said:
Rather annoyingly this book seems to only be available within the UK at the moment.
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I see that on the Amazon UK website (still nothing on Amazon USA), Norman Friedman's forthcoming book now has a blurb and a front cover image. Although the cover shows biplanes and the subtitle is identical to Dr Friedman's British submarines volume that was the first of two, the blurb states "This book tells (and explains) how that happened over more than a century of British carrier development". So it seems this one book will cover the entire history of British aircraft carriers in 400 pages. Unlike submarines, the Royal Navy invented aircraft carriers, so I would have thought Dr Friedman could get two volumes out of this expansive subject. The book is not by Seaforth/Naval Institute Press, I notice, but rather by Pen & Sword: maybe the Pen & Sword editor demanded a tighter book? In any case, I look forward to publication.
 
RocketJavelin said:
Hello!

Thank you very much for the interest. I am indeed hopeful that publication will be Q2 this year, although I don’t know about the American arrangements I’m afraid. I’m sure Morton’s could advise.

The aim of the book is to say something different. I’m an aerodynamicist by trade and so I’ve used that as the jumping-off point. The books you mention, and many others, offer great histories of RAF’s use and something about the development process. I wanted to really dig into the aerodynamic development and explain how the unique form came to be, and to an extent, how HP as the rival manufacturer came to very different conclusions. The book draws on the wind tunnel test reports from the RAE in particular, who conducted most of the high speed, high Reynolds number testing of the Vulcan and Victor, and contributed to the maths and the designing by hacksaw. The later development was shaped by politics as much as aerodynamics, and so I got to combine two of my interests.

Hopefully it will find an audience beyond its author!

Best wishes
Steve
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Good; I expect a detailed, in-depth technical development history of the lovely Avro Vulcan will be a rewarding read.

To my knowledge, the wing intended for the derived Avro Atlantic airliner proposal was not identical to that of the Vulcan B.1 or B.2. Will your forthcoming book engage with the Atlantic design?
 
Owens Z said:
I see that on the Amazon UK website (still nothing on Amazon USA), Norman Friedman's forthcoming book now has a blurb and a front cover image. Although the cover shows biplanes and the subtitle is identical to Dr Friedman's British submarines volume that was the first of two, the blurb states "This book tells (and explains) how that happened over more than a century of British carrier development". So it seems this one book will cover the entire history of British aircraft carriers in 400 pages. Unlike submarines, the Royal Navy invented aircraft carriers, so I would have thought Dr Friedman could get two volumes out of this expansive subject. The book is not by Seaforth/Naval Institute Press, I notice, but rather by Pen & Sword: maybe the Pen & Sword editor demanded a tighter book? In any case, I look forward to publication.
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Seaforth is an imprint of Pen & Sword.
 
Nice one Hood, I seriously cannot wait until April. Fingers and toes firmly crossed that it does not get delayed.
 
Owens Z said:
Good; I expect a detailed, in-depth technical development history of the lovely Avro Vulcan will be a rewarding read.

To my knowledge, the wing intended for the derived Avro Atlantic airliner proposal was not identical to that of the Vulcan B.1 or B.2. Will your forthcoming book engage with the Atlantic design?
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Nothing on the Atlantic I’m afraid, although the design wind tunnel tested by the RAE used the original Vulcan B.1 wing, and was actually used for the phase 2 (kinked) leading edge development.

There’s a preview (of sorts) of the book in the Feb 2025 Aeroplane Monthly: https://www.key.aero/article/avro-vulcan-how-legend-was-created
 
Owens Z said:
Thanks for the notice of this appealing book, DWG, which I find doesn't yet appear on American websites. From the subtitle, it seems Dr Friedman intends this to be a "world wars" volume for British carriers, with perhaps later a "postwar" volume, just as he did two volumes successfully on British submarines. A new richly dense Friedman tome arriving at my door is like a visit from an old friend; I look forward to being able to buy a copy next year.
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Yes, there is to be a postwar volume. Plans originally called for a single volume, but there was too much material for that. Members may also be interested in a U.S. Naval Institute volume due some time this year, a history of anti-submarine warfare during the Cold War. The overall shape of Cold War ASW may be surprising, in that after about 1960 it was not at all clear that it would be about protecting North Atlantic shipping from hordes of Soviet submarines (and by that time it was also not at all clear that a big war was the likeliest scenario for East-West tension). Both this book and the carrier book are currently in the production stage, and it appears that the British carrier book will appear first. For those interested in naval air on the other side of the Atlantic, a history of U.S. naval attack aircraft appeared (I think) last year.
 
I would think that both would compliment each other, Damien Burke's book is a good read though.
 
So should expect "British Aircraft Carriers in the Cold War era" and maybe after in a couple of years
 
fishpond said:
Blurb was wrong. Originally it was a single volume, now it is to be two of them. So in this volume you get the story to the end of WW II; there will be a second volume on the story since.
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Thanks for confirming this! Do you know whether each volume will also cover the development of the aircraft themselves, as Friedman's earlier British Carrier Aviation did (to an extent), or purely the carriers they flew from?
 
5397-entry-0-1737299966.jpg

  • Author: Gerard Keijsper
  • Imprint: Air World
  • Pages: 488
  • Illustrations: 400 colour illustration integrated
  • ISBN: 9781399083539
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

F-35 In Service

The origins of the F-35 and the amazing challenges the industry had to be overcome go back to a still-secret NATO study that evaluated the…
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
 
Damn, still waiting for my copy to turn up GTX, can't be that long to wait though.
 
A quick update GTX, looks like my F-35 book is going to be finally on it's way at last.
 
fishpond said:
Yes, there is to be a postwar volume. Plans originally called for a single volume, but there was too much material for that... Both this book and the carrier book are currently in the production stage, and it appears that the British carrier book will appear first. For those interested in naval air on the other side of the Atlantic, a history of U.S. naval attack aircraft appeared (I think) last year.
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fishpond said:
Blurb was wrong. Originally it was a single volume, now it is to be two of them. So in this volume you get the story to the end of WW II; there will be a second volume on the story since.
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fishpond said:
I think the Naval Institute will be marketing this book in the US.
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Thorvic said:
So should expect "British Aircraft Carriers in the Cold War era" and maybe after in a couple of years
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Thanks, Fishpond. You point out that the publisher-supplied blurb on the Amazon UK website (as yet, nothing on Amazon USA) is in error, and that the forthcoming "World Wars" British aircraft carriers volume will in due time be followed by a hefty "Cold War era and after" sequel, matching the split of Dr Friedman's two-volume British submarines tome. Two volumes rather than one is entirely my preference, and I suspect I am not alone. In post #803 above, DWG wondered how for example the Colossus-class Light Fleet Carrier program would be covered in volumes that divide in 1945/46, but I leave that in the author's expert hands. While the first man to take off from, and land on, a ship was an American, the aircraft carrier was a British invention, and for myself, in this forthcoming first volume I will be especially interested in coverage of their early technical history, and First World War service including the projected 1919 mass torpedo bomber attack on the German fleet at anchor, with the sharp insight and talmudic detail for which Dr Friedman is famous. In the eventual second volume, I hope the author thoroughly covers the planned decked-over container ships and mini "Harrier Carrier" designs that as I recall were the rage worldwide immediately after the Falklands War victory. I think even the Soviets got caught up in the excitement back then and experimented with Yak-38s aboard Ro-Ro ships. Should there ever be an all-out naval war again (God forbid), I expect those insta-carrier plans from forty years ago would be promptly dusted off.
 
fishpond said:
Members may also be interested in a U.S. Naval Institute volume due some time this year, a history of anti-submarine warfare during the Cold War. The overall shape of Cold War ASW may be surprising, in that after about 1960 it was not at all clear that it would be about protecting North Atlantic shipping from hordes of Soviet submarines (and by that time it was also not at all clear that a big war was the likeliest scenario for East-West tension). Both this book and the carrier book are currently in the production stage...
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No mention on Naval Institute Press's website yet, but this forthcoming book about ASW from 1946 through 1990 sounds interesting. Whenever I re-read Norman Friedman's authoritative U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, I am struck that the USN's fears in the late 1940's, about a horde of Soviet high-speed submarines based on the advanced Type XXI U-boat rendering the existing fleet of destroyer escorts ineffective, have still not come to pass. As things have turned out, the fastest diesel-electric subs of the 2020's can do only a few knots more that the Type XXI's 17 knots, and that for only an hour or so. If one could catch a "slow steaming" 18-knot Maersk container ship at all, I suspect that an escorting John C. Butler-class DE armed with Hedgehog would be considered a dangerous adversary to this day.

Dr Friedman covers the period well in his fine book The Fifty Year War: Conflict and Strategy in the Cold War, which he kindly autographed for me, and he exhaustively covered ASW weapons and fire control (and the general principles of sonar, etc.) in the volumes of his big Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems, of which I own two.
 
icyplanetnhc (Steve) said:
Naval historian Bill Jurens is currently working on an update to Garzke & Dulin’s classic book on American battleships, so I would be interesting to see if it will have any information on potential post-Gulf War modernization plans for the Iowas.
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icyplanetnhc (Steve) said:
Personal correspondence. He also posts on the Naval Weapons forums. That said, there’s no ETA on publication date yet.
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William Jurens of Canada is a co-author of the notable book Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History (Seaforth, 2019) and is a moderator on the KBismarck.org site. As icyplanetnhc had mentioned to us 1.5 years ago, Mr Jurens continues his labor on the manuscript of a new fully revised & updated edition of Garzke/Dulin, Battleships: Allied Battleships in World War II, the classic standard work from 45 years ago. When Naval Institute Press publishes the finished book (perhaps in late 2026 or early 2027?), I expect it will attract wide interest.

Mr Jurens tells me that a new edition of the companion volume Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II is also in mind, but as a very long-term plan.
 
Owens Z said:
William Jurens of Canada is a co-author of the notable book Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History (Seaforth, 2019) and is a moderator on the KBismarck.org site. As icyplanetnhc had mentioned to us 1.5 years ago, Mr Jurens continues his labor on the manuscript of a new fully revised & updated edition of Garzke/Dulin, Battleships: Allied Battleships in World War II, the classic standard work from 45 years ago. When Naval Institute Press publishes the finished book (perhaps in late 2026 or early 2027?), I expect it will attract wide interest.

Mr Jurens tells me that a new edition of the companion volume Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II is also in mind, but as a very long-term plan.
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William Jurens's Bismarck book (the 2019 one) has received a lot of flak, especially from Antonio Bonomi and some Germans. What is more, Jurens has himself admitted that the book is far from comprehensive from design and engineering points of view. For me the book was and is a flop (because I am mostly interested in the design and engineering aspects, not combat chorology). I expected something like Lacroix & Wells and AotS Dreadnought combined.
 
Pasoleati said:
William Jurens's Bismarck book (the 2019 one) has received a lot of flak, especially from Antonio Bonomi and some Germans. What is more, Jurens has himself admitted that the book is far from comprehensive from design and engineering points of view. For me the book was and is a flop (because I am mostly interested in the design and engineering aspects, not combat chorology). I expected something like Lacroix & Wells and AotS Dreadnought combined.
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Pasoleati, by mentioning Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War you set a very high bar. I love a good design & engineering technical history on naval or aviation or space subjects (or on tanks) more than most. For instance, I have read and re-read Dennis R. Jenkins's fourth edition, Space Shuttle: Developing an Icon 1972-2013, which has (not counting its tables and figure captions) double the word count of Tolstoy's War and Peace and approaches thrice that of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. And I know about misleadingly titled and advertised works (see for example post #34 in the recent thread "What do people think about current books?"). With that said, I myself enjoyed Battleship Bismarck, and my purchased copy of that hefty book has an honored place on my shelves.

If I am understanding correctly, the forthcoming new revised edition of Garzke/Dulin, Battleships: Allied Battleships in World War II plans to enrich and deepen the design & engineering info in the original 1980 classic, which will be good news to you and me and others.
 
ChocolateCrisps said:
Thanks for confirming this! Do you know whether each volume will also cover the development of the aircraft themselves, as Friedman's earlier British Carrier Aviation did (to an extent), or purely the carriers they flew from?
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These are primarily about the carriers, but they have to take into account the impact of the aircraft. For example, the RN felt compelled to modernize carriers (they wanted more than Victorious) because based on what was being developed, by 1952 surviving WW 2 carriers would have been unable to operate current aircraft. There is no way to divorce the development of STOVL carriers from that of STOVL aircraft -- and so on. And of course it is impossible to talk about the carriers without the developments which made them jet-capable and then VSTOL-capable. Nor is it possible to divorce either the aircraft or the carriers from perceived RN missions and threats.
 

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