American Spitfire Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces) (ISBN 1846032024)

A Winning Combination - Yanks in Spits!:
Almost all WWII American aces flew U.S. aircraft to reach 'five down and glory' status. The exploits of the two dozen Yank pilots to make ace while flying Spitfires is told in this entertaining, informative book by Andrew Thomas, #80 in Osprey's 'Aircraft of the Aces' series. The select band of U.S. Spitfire aces either flew Spitfires as regular members of RAF squadrons or were assigned to American units such as the 4th, 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups which were initially equipped with Spitfires, a case of lend lease in reverse! Included in the former group were pilots like Lance Wade, Claude Weaver and John Lynch. The latter group boasted aces like Frank Hill, Harrison Thyng, Jerry Collinsworth and Sylvan Feld. Other pilots like Don Blakeslee, 'Dixie' Alexander and Don Gentile claimed their initial kills in Spits before scoring the magic fifth kill in other aircraft. Thomas relates the combat exploits of this disparate group in an engaging style; he's one of Osprey's better authors. I especially appreciated the numerous first-hand accounts of dogfights he included in the book. The text is illustrated with over 100 black and white photographs of the pilots and their 'kites' along with eight pages of nicely done color profiles by Chris Davey. An interesting subject well-presented; definitely a five-star effort.