Aircraft of the Aces 57: Hurricane Aces 1941-45 (ISBN 1841766100)

Hurricanes in Action Around the World!:
During the 1941-45 timeframe the Hawker Hurricane saw action in every theater around the world as day fighters, fighter-bombers, night intruders and nightfighters. These combats added an additional 60+ names to the Hurricane aces list. Andrew Thomas wraps up Osprey's coverage of the Hurri's combat career in this nicely done volume, #57 in the 'Aircraft of the Aces' series. Thomas summarizes the Hurricane's global combats in chapters devoted to the ETO, Mediterranean, North Africa and Far East, chapters that illustrate how varied the aircraft's later-war career was. In the 'Offence and Defence' chapter for example, Thomas relates Hurricane use in cross-Channel fighter sweeps, nightfighter/intruder ops and service on board CAM ships and Royal Navy carriers in the Atlantic and North Atlantic. The aces encountered in this book read like a Who's Who of RAF fighter pilots - Pat Pattle, Frank Carey, Bill Vale, 'Boy' Mould, Karel Kuttelwascher, Willie McKnight, Jack Storey and so on. That they accomplished so much, given that by 1941, the Hurricane was getting long in the tooth, speaks volumes for their piloting skills and fighter spirit. Thomas' book is a well-done, broadbrush chronicle of victories, defeats, rough times and ultimate victory. The comprehensive text is illustrated with over 100 photographs and ten pages of color profiles by John Weal. Air combat enthusiasts and fans of Hawker's humpbacked warhorse will enjoy this book. ***** The initial Osprey 'Hurricane Aces' volume, authored by Tony Holmes in 1998, added an extra 32 pages to tell the 1939-40 Hurricane story. I would have liked Osprey to have done the same with Thomas' book. Given the scope of the subject, extra pages would have been great.