Which books should be in everyone's library?

phrenzy

phrenzy

as long as all they ask me about is the air war...
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I've just recently picked up a copy of NSAID-97-134 (I'll leave that otherwise untitled to see who's an bigger geek than me and can pick what it is, no googling!), and it got me thinking about what should be in every amatuer combat aircraft historians library. I tend to like detailed semi-primary books/papers/reports like this so I can use them as sources at uni but I'm a bit of an omnivore and anything covering 1903 to now is of interest.

Which books would you most highly recommend? What books give you most bang for your buck? Which ones would you keep if you could only have 5 aviation titles?
 
Troubled Partnership: A History of U.S.-Japan Collaboration on the F-SX Fighter by Mark Lorell is definitely a 'must have'.
 
The RAF and Aircraft Design 1923-1939; Air Staff operational requirements: Colin Sinnott
Based on a PhD thesis which is available for download here
https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/2936079/266156.pdf
 
Any and all books by William Green, Peter Bowers, Jay Miller, and Dennis Jenkins. -SP
 
Mine!

http://www.amazon.com/Available-Light-ebook/dp/B008LW6UTY/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1343818996&sr=8-33&keywords=available+light

(Sorry moderators - couldn't resist)

:)
 
Chuck Hansen's nuke book.
Pavel Povdig's book on Soviet nuclear weapons.
Jay Miller's "Skunk Works"
All of the Secret Projects books. B)
Jenkins XB-70 book.
As many Warbird Tech, Aerofax, and Airtime Publishing publications as you can get your hands on. ;D

and many, many others.
 
Ben R. Rich - Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed


One of my first books into the world of unknown and secret aircraft projects! :)
 
An old love...

" Italian Civil & Military Aircraft 1930-1945" Jonathan Thompson/Arco Publ.
 
Hmmm, among the Putnam books A.J. Jackson's De Havilland Aircraft since 1909 is a favorite, but of them all I find that Don Brown's Miles Aircraft Since 1925 is the one that I go back to so often that I've nearly worn it out. A great balance of technical innovation and personal stories from company that had a lot of heart and gumption while it lasted.

Richard Riding's Ultralights: The Early British Classics also falls into the category of books I have started to wear out along with Henri Mignet and His Flying Fleas by Ken Ellis and Geoff Jones. Speaking of Henri Mignet, while you should never built the unmodified original design, Henri Mignet's Le Sport de l'Air (English title: The Flying Flea: How to Build and Fly It) remains an inspirational read for anyone who has ever dreamed of building a plane.
 
The Putnam series remain the best starting point when researching British aircraft but do handle the earlier titles with care, they tend to suffer from a tad of bias and omissions. Read the chapters about aircraft built to fulfil the same specification in a few of these books and you will come across quite a spread of interpretations.
 
The German publisher Bernard & Graefe does a series of books about German (what else?) aviation.
http://www.luftfahrt-bibliothek.de/buchreihe-deutsche-luftfahrt-luftfahrttechnik-bernard-grafe-verlag.htm
35 volumes.
Some of these have been translated to English.
 
For me the French Docavias written by Jean Cuny ("Les Avions De Combat Francais", the issues about Latécoère
and Breguet and the like) are still a "must have", especially as there are very few alternatives, if at all.
 
Jemiba said:
For me the French Docavias written by Jean Cuny ("Les Avions De Combat Francais", the issues about Latécoère
and Breguet and the like) are still a "must have", especially as there are very few alternatives, if at all.
Click to expand...
I just wish there were volumes taking French combat aircraft development beyond 1960. The two Docavia titles I have only cover 1945 - 1960.
 
"Le Mirage F1 et les Mirage de seconde génération à voilure en flèche". Vol 1
Michel Liébert & Sébastien Buyck
Editions Lela Presse
 
The first three volumes of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Nuclear Weapons Databooks on US nuclear weapons. Although a left of center group the books are incredibly informative with regard to the timeframe they were published. They were my go to source in the mid-late 80's for systems, warheads, throw weights, etc. for US nuclear systems.
 
Project Cancelled by Derek Wood. Probably the book which started it all.


Anything naval by Friedman, Rebuilding the Royal Navy by Brown and Moore.


And of course, all the books which spring from the talented individuals of this forum!
 
Ahhh just lost my post as the phone refreshed the page. Damn you Safari.

Most Secret War by RV Jones

For subs I was going to say anything by Polmar, plus of course Blind Man's Bluff for context. For SF/midget subs there are a bunch more I'd recommend but very few are of the technical flavor preferred by this forum. Except WW2 which is well covered by Underwater Warriors by Paul Kemp and Chariots of War by Rob Hobson.

For SF subs there is actually only one complete book in existence with both built and unbuilt/experimental designs (cough!!!) http://www.amazon.com/Covert-Shores-Special-Missions-Minisubs/dp/1502769492
 
All volumes of The now defunct Putnam's History of Aircraft - edited by Philip Jarrett - I have 5 of the published volumes and each is excellent its a pity that the series wound up prematurely
 
I'd also recommend Most Secret War and its sequel Reflections on Intelligence. For a non-aviation title, The Moon's a Balloon by David Niven.

Chris
 
CJGibson said:
I'd also recommend Most Secret War and its sequel Reflections on Intelligence. For a non-aviation title, The Moon's a Balloon by David Niven.

Chris
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wow didn't know about his second book. based on the first, a must-have. But seems out of print as cost is ridiculously pricey http://www.amazon.com/Reflections-Intelligence-R-V-Jones/dp/0434377244
 

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