Ace Profiles 3
Author: James F. Miller
Publisher: Classic Publications
ISBN: 978-0-9555977-3-2
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 96
When one thinks of aces of the First World War, invariably the first name to come up will be Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron". One would be hard pressed to find a pilot that has been written about more than Richthofen, yet he still is a popular subject even today. With this latest title in Classic Publications Ace Profile series, Richthofen and his aircraft are covered in detail.
For those not familiar with the Ace Profile series, these books take a detailed look at a specific ace, and attempt to document all the aircraft that person flew. This is somewhat challenging for Richthofen, as the aircraft of his early days are not nearly as well documented as his more famous red triplanes. The author does a good job in collecting the available information and presenting as complete a story as possible, though.
In presenting the history of Richthofen and his aircraft, the book has to take a chronological approach, as there is no other way to keep things organized. So this book starts with Richthofen's two-seater aircraft before moving on to the single seaters. The single seater period is then further divided into pre-wound and post-would periods, using his nearly fatal injury as a separator.
Each section is filled with photographs and color illustrations that highlight the aircraft flown by Richthofen, with the text providing a rich background to go with the illustrations. The result is an easy to follow text that is compact yet detailed in its presentation. The attention to detail is impressive, and is bound to find favor with modelers and historians alike. My thanks to Classic Publications for the review copy.