The Fairey Firefly two-seater strike-fighter emerged from troubled beginnings to become one of the most widely used and effective aircraft of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. It first saw service in 1944 during the attacks on the battleship Tirpitz as it lurked in the Norwegian fjords, then served in the Far East as the Fleet Air Arm tussled with the kamikaze threat. It went on to form an important part of several embryonic naval air arms in the early years of the Cold War and performed a vital combat role in Korea in the early 1950s. In this book, naval aviation historian Matthew Willis tells the story of this important aircraft using more than 160 photographs, many of them rare or unpublished, accompanied by a detailed commentary covering every aspect of the Firefly’s varied career from fighter to sub-hunter to pilotless target drone, in air forces all over the world.

"This book presents a good opportunity to learn about a type that served well and long but is not as well known outside of the Commonwealth as it should be and at an inexpensive price."

"All the photos are in black and white and there are a considerable number of them. One could easily consider this a photo history as much as an actual history of the type."