The Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VII
By Matt Bittner
Author: Phil H. Listemann
Publisher: Philedition
ISBN #: 978-2918590-45-3
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 36
There weren't many Spitfire Mk.VIIs built, with only 141 being produced. This meant there were only a few squadrons equipped with the type. This is where this book from Philedition comes into play. It showcases all of those squadrons that used the Spitfire Mk.VII as the primary aircraft on service; it also talks a little about its use as onesies-and-twosies in non-typical squadrons (like for meteorological work).
Those squadrons that did use it receive a pretty decent monthly account of its actions in this book. Each squadron has a list of claims, as well as lists of lost aircraft, both by accident and on operational sorties. In addition, there are "follow ons" to some of the squadrons; that is, person x went this way, once the squadron was done flying the Mk.VII they then flew this type of aircraft, etc.
However, there are issues with the book, some syntactical and two pet peeves. Sure there are grammatical errors but thankfully those are few and far between. The bigger issue is typesetting: there are quite a few words that run together with no spaces between. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it requires a re-read. Something, though, that shouldn't be in evidence in today's age of computers.
The first pet peeve I have was extremely evident in the first section of the book and that is the lack of the year when discussing dates. While the year shouldn't have to be evident every time a date is presented, I feel it should at least be presented in the beginning of a new paragraph. But in the first section at least, the year isn't presented at all except at the very beginning and the very end. I found this extremely confusing.
My last pet peeve deals with blank pages. While Philedition includes an ad for other titles from their publishing house (and I don't blame them that at all) there are three totally blank pages. They could have moved the ad to the last blank page and added "more"; and by more I think they should have added at least two more color profiles. There are three port-side only color profiles currently, really nicely done, and adding a couple more would add just a little more to the overall presentation.
Even with these pet peeves, though, I think the book is a worthwhile purchase. It discusses an aircraft that wasn't in wide-spread use and the text helps explain how the type was used.