Little Friends: The Fighter Pilot Experience in World War II England

Hardcover 26x26 cm, 256 pages. Review in the United Kingdom: I felt a need to write a review of this book not just because it's an excellent work but because the only review here is a 1 star review given because the reviewer's copy never arrived. Not really a review of the work then but the fellow's purchasing experience which to my mind isn't fair on the author nor his book. If you're familiar with these sorts of books that Philip Kaplan produced in the 90s then this one won't be a surprise. This is my third of these visual treatments of his subject by Kaplan that I have bought (the others being "The Few" and "Wolfpack") and it is a wonderful book. First and foremost the emphasis is on the images, and they are a wonderful combination of from the period and also "now" (in this case 1990 or thereabouts) which lends itself to a superb, overwhelming feeling of nostalgia when you read this. As well as the myriad of photos from WWII there's also photos of the men who flew as they were in the late 80s/early 90s when the book was produced, and the same for airfields and places associated with these men. The text is very good and ties in with the images and gives a good feeling for the life and experience of a fighter pilot flying out of England in WWII with the RAF or USAAF, although there's probably more of an emphasis on the American experience. I really love these books by Kaplan as they are simply wonderful to pick up and look through and read again and again. I've had his "The Few" the longest, having got it in 2000 and I still after all this time love picking it up and enjoying the photos and text, and "Little Friends" is exactly the same - a beautifully presented book that can be enjoyed again and again. I really can't recommend this enough. If you like the subject then definitely pick up a copy, it will be a book that you pick up again and again and enjoy just as much every time you do so. 9780394584348 Random House