Reviewed by
Gene Nollmann

"As I am more particularly an illustrator, I have given priority to the illustrations and iconography, followed by explanations which are deliberately concise but as rigorous as possible. The aim was to tell the thirty-year story of the Corsair's extraordinary career from its baptism of fire in the Pacific to African skies, passing through the Far East and less martial but nonetheless virile interlude in the colourful and exhilarating world of the Pylon Races.

This work does not claim to be exhaustive and is destined as much to the enlightened amateur as to the neophyte, in whom perhaps will appear a new love for the Fabulous Bent wing Bird." -- Bruno Pautigny, author of Corsair: 30 Years of Filibustering 1940-1970

The author's description of his goal for the book is exactly how the book turned out. It is profusely illustrated with a seemingly endless proliferation of well done color profiles of virtually every Corsair from the XF4U-1 to the AU-1 and F4U-7. (Dare I say, there seems to be more variations and types of F4U than of Bf 109s!). The book is jammed with visual information of excellent quality and should prove to be highly inspiring to the Corsair modeler. The book is hard bound and is in English throughout (merci beaucoup Historie & Collections!).

The book includes:
" 91 color and sepia detail vignettes,
" 115 color profiles (each about 8.3" long, as close to 1:48 scale as can be determined, the author concedes that many sources offer conflicting dimensional information),
" 8 color advertisements of the period,
" 85 black & white war archive photos,
" 21 color war archive photos,
" 7 action renderings,
" 5 Theatre of Action maps.

There are several illustration groupings that allow quick comparisons of differences:

" Canopy evolution 1941-1951 using 7 vignettes
" Intake and exhaust configurations from the F4U-4 to the F4U-7 using 8 vignettes
" Evolution of Navy roundels used 1941-1945 using 7 color vignettes
" And another from 1947-1960 using 4 color vignettes
" And for the French Navale, Flotille insignia and tail markings in 8 color vignettes
" And evolution of the roundels 1950-1961 in 3 color vignettes

I had first seen the book reviewed in SAMI some time ago (I believe it was rated as their 'book-of-the-month') and had made a mental note to watch for it, but it never seemed to cross my path. I finally looked it up on 'Bookfinder.com'. Several sources came up with a wide range of prices. I tried for the first time 'Overstock.com' and found them to be very efficient with quick processing and the best prices. And now I have one of those books that I can have handy to fill idle moments and be freshly entertained with information each time. It would make a great 'index' to a collection of information on the Corsair. (Wow! Some of those French Navale were colorful birds!). Now I have to get busy to see what's needed to convert a -4 to a -7.

© Gene Nollmann 2004