Greetings to all! I’m looking for recommendations on books addressing the Supermarine Spitfire… Looking for 1,a good ilustrated technical development history of all marks.2,a history of operations,with lots of first person accounts if possible,and 3rd,something with lots of color profiles of all marks,…There is so much out there I need advice before buying !!! Many Thanks, Mike
Personally, I recommend that you literally chop in “Spitfire Mk. II” in your favorite search engine, and you will get neat links like this one:
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_spitfire_mkII.html
At the bottom of the article is a link to the Osprey publication:
Spitfire Mark I/II Aces 1939-41, Dr Alfred Price.
In addition to that, as a current member, I can recommend you consider joining a great hobby-support resource like the Military Book Club, where if chop in “Spitfire” you can get resources like a DVD they have titled “ALLIED FIGHTERS**”**, which I have a copy of and highly recommend as well as the book by Alex Kershaw, “THE FEW”, which chronicles the role of the Ameican Eagle squadron during the Battle of Britain.
Also they have a very nice book:
THE ESSENTIAL AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION GUIDE: ALLIED FIGHTERS 1939-45
by Chris Chant
OK?
Tom [C):-)]
Thanks,for the individual recommendations,Mr.T; search engines,Amazon,etc. are great ,but the amt. of available pubs re. this A/C is overwhelming. I have a good library covering warships and armour,but alot of it came by trial and error as far as what is truly noteworthy!! Turning to you aircraft experts as I go into a new area of interest so as to avoid some of the junk that I’m sure is out there[;)] Mike Of The Roos
Check your local library as they might have some books that you can check if they are right for the type of research that you want to do. Try before you buy?
The Spitfire is my all-time favorite aircraft to model, and I’ve got dozens of books and gigabytes of photos.
Three of my favorite books are:
Supermarine Spitfire Owner’s Workshop Manual (Haynes Publishing)- This book has great detail photos and diagrams that while most appropriate for someone restoring a Spitfire, they are great for the modeler.
The Story of the Spitfire (Ken Delve)- A great book that covers the operational history of the Spitfire, broken down by Mark and theatre.
But my all time favorite book is what I call the “Big Book O’ Spitfires”…
Spitfire: The History (Eric Morgan and Edward Shacklady)- This is 650 page monster has more minute detail about the Spitfire than you’ll believe, right down to the production history of every single Spitfire, and more detail on the devleopment than I’ve found any where else. The pics are a bit dated, but with so much avaialble on the Internet, that’s no problem. This book is harder to find than the other two, as I believe it’s out of print. I found mine on Amazon, and it took months to arrive. They occassionaly show up at Barnes and Noble on the discount table.
Still- as good as those books are, I do almost all of my research on the Internet. Google is your friend! [:)]
If you get hold of a copy of the latest “Flypast” magazine (May 2008,) you’ll find “Spitfire, the History” on offer, on page 83, at £12.99, instead of £39.99, or you can go onto www.keypublishing.com/shop. Believe me, it isn’t known as “The Spitfire Bible” for nothing.
Edgar
I would also suggest that when shopping for a title you desire…try Alibris.com.
They are like a clearinghouse for selling new and used publications. All pubs are accurately rated as to condition, are packaged very well and shipped quickly! The prices are amazing!
Cannot say enough about them[tup]
Aerodata - Spitfire I and II
Aerodetails 8 - Spitfire i-V
SAM 3- Spitfire Merlin Powered - in my opinion one of the best details I ever saw on this subject, includes a lot of drawings and schematics
SAM 5- Spitfire Griffon Powered - similar to the above except[:)] the engine
AJ Press - Spitfire - various books;combines history, details and colors
for a general info - Ospray and Squadron books
Thanks to all for the input,esp. Jon B.,as this is the info I was seeking.I am restricted in modeling due to health issues,breathing,vision,and co-ordination,but I can still collect and love books! Mike