Email Daniel Yesilonis at daniel.yesilonis@casematepublishers.com to request your review copies. These are the newest titles available, but books not on this page may still be requested.
Upcoming Releases
C.200 Saetta, C.202 Folgore, C.205 Veltro
9781800352803
Classic Publications
In this thoroughly researched, detailed and exhaustive study, aviation historian Luigino Caliaro tells the story of the three main fighters to serve in World War II produced by the Varese-based Aeronautica Macchi. The C.200 Saetta (Lightning) was conceived in 1935 by Ing. Mario Castoldi as a short-range interceptor powered by a Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder radial engine and armed with twin 12.7 mm machine guns. By war's end some 1,150 examples had been built. The C.202 Folgore (Thunderbolt) incorporated the German Daimler-Benz 601A in-line engine licensed-built by Alfa Romeo.
Finally, the C.205 Veltro (Greyhound) was powered by the more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605. The internationally renowned British test pilot, Captain Eric Brown, told the author that the C.205 was 'was a superb fighter, with a beautiful line and good armament... In my opinion its flying performance was totally comparable with the Spitfire.'
Drawing on company and military archive reports, the author traces the origins of Aeronautica Macchi before examining the design and development of each type, as well as, in each case, production, prototypes and technical aspects. Also covered in this profusely illustrated volume are details of the operational variants and project designs, along with a detailed narrative covering the history of each aircraft in service with the Regia Aeronautica, the Aviazione Nazionale Repubblicana, the Luftwaffe and Croatian Air Legion. Additionally, post-war service with the Aeronautica Militare and the Royal Egyptian Air Force is explored, as well as camouflage, markings, heraldry and insignia.
With hundreds of photographs, drawings and colour artwork, this book forms the most comprehensive and informative account of this trio of aircraft in the English language.
Finally, the C.205 Veltro (Greyhound) was powered by the more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605. The internationally renowned British test pilot, Captain Eric Brown, told the author that the C.205 was 'was a superb fighter, with a beautiful line and good armament... In my opinion its flying performance was totally comparable with the Spitfire.'
Drawing on company and military archive reports, the author traces the origins of Aeronautica Macchi before examining the design and development of each type, as well as, in each case, production, prototypes and technical aspects. Also covered in this profusely illustrated volume are details of the operational variants and project designs, along with a detailed narrative covering the history of each aircraft in service with the Regia Aeronautica, the Aviazione Nazionale Repubblicana, the Luftwaffe and Croatian Air Legion. Additionally, post-war service with the Aeronautica Militare and the Royal Egyptian Air Force is explored, as well as camouflage, markings, heraldry and insignia.
With hundreds of photographs, drawings and colour artwork, this book forms the most comprehensive and informative account of this trio of aircraft in the English language.
The Red Baron & the High Price of Glory
9781036100261
Air World
The story of how a young cavalry officer eager to serve his country became a pilot and then, when success beckoned, had his life taken over by a very skilled group of publicists, writers, photographers and artists.
It is more than a hundred years since Manfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron’, was killed in combat on the Western Front. Yet this gallant fighter pilot is probably as well known today as he was his lifetime.
Beginning in 1916, when his lethal skills were first realized, his image proved a godsend to his country’s propaganda machine. There, far above the misery of life in the trenches, was a shooting star of unimaginable potency to help pacify a weary nation that was now beginning to believe that the war was no longer necessary or the losses justified. And so, an image of chivalry was conjured up and exploited with little regard of the cost of this to an increasingly war weary man.
Manfred von Richthofen: The Red Baron and the High Price of Glory draws on many sources, some previously untapped, including interviews with pilots he fought alongside and against, official documents held in collections around the world and the work of three noted Great War historians, two of whom began their work in the 1920s, all now dead but who left a rich legacy of research for us to explore. In addition, there are interviews with fifty or so pilots from the Second World War, who went through much that von Richthofen experienced above the Western Front and could speak with authority about the effects of continuous combat flying on aviators.
This is the story of how a young cavalry officer eager to serve his country became a pilot and then, when success beckoned, had his life taken over by a very skilled group of publicists, writers, photographers and artists. Every element of his life was picked over, dissected and revealed to an ever-growing and intrusive audience. If he had simply been a celebrity – royalty, an actor or politician – this attention might have been accepted, but he was a front line pilot daily courting death, leading many other men in a constant life or death struggle.
So here we have a man severely stressed by war, then stripped of his privacy and any opportunity to rest. Inevitably, some might say, he became another victim of a bloody war, but even in death the exploitation continued and was then re-awakened a decade or so later by the Nazi’s to help promote an even bloodier war.
It is more than a hundred years since Manfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron’, was killed in combat on the Western Front. Yet this gallant fighter pilot is probably as well known today as he was his lifetime.
Beginning in 1916, when his lethal skills were first realized, his image proved a godsend to his country’s propaganda machine. There, far above the misery of life in the trenches, was a shooting star of unimaginable potency to help pacify a weary nation that was now beginning to believe that the war was no longer necessary or the losses justified. And so, an image of chivalry was conjured up and exploited with little regard of the cost of this to an increasingly war weary man.
Manfred von Richthofen: The Red Baron and the High Price of Glory draws on many sources, some previously untapped, including interviews with pilots he fought alongside and against, official documents held in collections around the world and the work of three noted Great War historians, two of whom began their work in the 1920s, all now dead but who left a rich legacy of research for us to explore. In addition, there are interviews with fifty or so pilots from the Second World War, who went through much that von Richthofen experienced above the Western Front and could speak with authority about the effects of continuous combat flying on aviators.
This is the story of how a young cavalry officer eager to serve his country became a pilot and then, when success beckoned, had his life taken over by a very skilled group of publicists, writers, photographers and artists. Every element of his life was picked over, dissected and revealed to an ever-growing and intrusive audience. If he had simply been a celebrity – royalty, an actor or politician – this attention might have been accepted, but he was a front line pilot daily courting death, leading many other men in a constant life or death struggle.
So here we have a man severely stressed by war, then stripped of his privacy and any opportunity to rest. Inevitably, some might say, he became another victim of a bloody war, but even in death the exploitation continued and was then re-awakened a decade or so later by the Nazi’s to help promote an even bloodier war.
Reprints and Paperback Editions
The Memoir of a Lead Bomber Pilot in World War II
9781636244631
Casemate
"...this is an excellent personal account of the war as seen from the cockpit of a B-17.” — The NYMAS Review
In this engaging book we see how an 18-year-old miner shoveling ore from deep in the ground in Utah suddenly found himself, only two years later, 30,000 feet in the air over Nazi Germany, piloting a Flying Fortress in the first wave of America’s air counteroffensive in Europe.
Like thousands of other young Americans, Ray Brim was plucked by the U.S. Army to be a combat flyer, and was quickly pitted against the hardened veterans of the Luftwaffe. Brim turned out to have a natural knack for flying, however, and was assigned to the select squadron developing lead Pathfinder techniques, while experimenting with radar. He was among the first to test the teeth of the Luftwaffe’s defenses, and once those techniques had been honed, thousands of other bomber crews would follow into the maelstrom, from which 80,000 never returned.
This work gives us vivid insights into the genesis of the American air campaign, told with the humor, attention to detail and humility that captures the heart and soul of our “Greatest Generation.” Brim was one of the first Pathfinder pilots to fly both day and night missions leading bomb groups of 600-plus bombers to their targets. At the onset of his missions in the spring of 1943, B-17 crews were given a 50-50 chance of returning. Each of his raids were nerve-wracking forays into the unknown; with struggles to survive the damage to his plane due to flak and German fighter attacks, in order to bring his 10-man crew home, often wounded but still alive.
In this engaging book we see how an 18-year-old miner shoveling ore from deep in the ground in Utah suddenly found himself, only two years later, 30,000 feet in the air over Nazi Germany, piloting a Flying Fortress in the first wave of America’s air counteroffensive in Europe.
Like thousands of other young Americans, Ray Brim was plucked by the U.S. Army to be a combat flyer, and was quickly pitted against the hardened veterans of the Luftwaffe. Brim turned out to have a natural knack for flying, however, and was assigned to the select squadron developing lead Pathfinder techniques, while experimenting with radar. He was among the first to test the teeth of the Luftwaffe’s defenses, and once those techniques had been honed, thousands of other bomber crews would follow into the maelstrom, from which 80,000 never returned.
This work gives us vivid insights into the genesis of the American air campaign, told with the humor, attention to detail and humility that captures the heart and soul of our “Greatest Generation.” Brim was one of the first Pathfinder pilots to fly both day and night missions leading bomb groups of 600-plus bombers to their targets. At the onset of his missions in the spring of 1943, B-17 crews were given a 50-50 chance of returning. Each of his raids were nerve-wracking forays into the unknown; with struggles to survive the damage to his plane due to flak and German fighter attacks, in order to bring his 10-man crew home, often wounded but still alive.
America's "Bloody 100th" in the Air War over Germany
9781636244624
Casemate
“...enables the reader better to understand how and why things were the way they were in the skies of Europe in the Second World War. Very readable, surprisingly revealing.” — Aviation News
This book provides a comprehensive look at air war over Europe during the climactic year of World War II, combining firsthand experience with expert analysis. The centerpiece is a mission-by-mission diary of 1st Lieutenant Richard R. Ayesh, bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress, who flew with the 100th Bombardment Group, 13th Combat Wing of the 8th Air Force—the legendary “Bloody 100th.” He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Croix de Guerre and the Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, amongst others.
This book follows Ayesh’s progress from his youth during the Great Depression in Wichita, Kansas, which was rapidly becoming the air capital of the nation, to his arrival in England as a Lieutenant in a bomber crew assigned to assault the Third Reich.
Once in Europe, the author provides a look at the principles of American daylight strategic bombing, while relaying the overall military situation on the ground and in the air just after D-Day. This work is uniquely self-contained and covers all aspects of Air War in a clear, concise, yet nontechnical manner. Topics include photo-reconnaissance, munitions and bomb types, aircraft characteristics, fighter and bomber tactics, bomber formations, strategic target selection, radars, countermeasures and counter-counter measures. The unaltered diary of Lt. Ayesh is presented mission-by-mission, punctuated by tragedy and heroism, with explanations and commentary of the significance of events and actions described en route. The result is one of the most frank and exciting works on the air war over Europe to date.
There is no varnishing of words in this book, instead, after Lt. Ayesh is followed on his perilous return home in U-boat infested waters, the book assesses the effectiveness of US strategy in ultimately paralyzing the Nazi war machine. Finally, the complex moral issues raised by area and city bombing are explored with 21st century implications.
This book provides a comprehensive look at air war over Europe during the climactic year of World War II, combining firsthand experience with expert analysis. The centerpiece is a mission-by-mission diary of 1st Lieutenant Richard R. Ayesh, bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress, who flew with the 100th Bombardment Group, 13th Combat Wing of the 8th Air Force—the legendary “Bloody 100th.” He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Croix de Guerre and the Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, amongst others.
This book follows Ayesh’s progress from his youth during the Great Depression in Wichita, Kansas, which was rapidly becoming the air capital of the nation, to his arrival in England as a Lieutenant in a bomber crew assigned to assault the Third Reich.
Once in Europe, the author provides a look at the principles of American daylight strategic bombing, while relaying the overall military situation on the ground and in the air just after D-Day. This work is uniquely self-contained and covers all aspects of Air War in a clear, concise, yet nontechnical manner. Topics include photo-reconnaissance, munitions and bomb types, aircraft characteristics, fighter and bomber tactics, bomber formations, strategic target selection, radars, countermeasures and counter-counter measures. The unaltered diary of Lt. Ayesh is presented mission-by-mission, punctuated by tragedy and heroism, with explanations and commentary of the significance of events and actions described en route. The result is one of the most frank and exciting works on the air war over Europe to date.
There is no varnishing of words in this book, instead, after Lt. Ayesh is followed on his perilous return home in U-boat infested waters, the book assesses the effectiveness of US strategy in ultimately paralyzing the Nazi war machine. Finally, the complex moral issues raised by area and city bombing are explored with 21st century implications.
