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Rating: 
Summary: nothing more than a
Review: I saw the book when I bought the first volume, about the fighters and I went ahead and bought this one also. I have got it first, redt it and here is what I can say about it:1)a very good data-base for pictures and aircrafts performance. Every aircraft is discussed in detail, with photos. At the end of the book you will find a full load of color plates and data tables. 2)the text instead is somehow confusing. Maybe it is the fault of the translator for not catching the original meanings. In one place the author is praising the good defensive armament just to say 2 pages later that the aircraft suffered from poor defensive armament (same aircraft, no difference)
-the west is not very familiar with the eastern front so every book regarding this subject is welcomed and took for granted. Just that a large number are very biased and VERY INACURATE! The author is describing an attack on Ploesti, stating that they've done huge damages and that "the sea was on flames for 3 days"...take an atlas and locate Ploesti...
Stories about bomber victories against fighters given like this: "during trials, the bomber aircrafts downed 10 Meserchmitts"...no location, no timing...just WORDS... 3) The way it was written is also confusing. You can find texts about same aircraft at the begining and also at the end! Not very clear clasification. 4) Not always the information is complete...This book is supposed to be a TECHNICAL one, so GIVE every detail and number regarding the aircraft. Like ammo count, ordnance, flight performance. CONCLUSION: I bought this book to fill a gap in my WWII collection. I needed a good technical book on VVS airplanes and if you are looking for the same, go for it! Otherwise, as a historical text it suffers a lot, very biased. I suggest instead "Black Cross, Red Star", also a little biased, but much more HISTORICALLY exact.
Again, if you are looking for a historical book, look elsewhere, technical yes...
Rating: 
Summary: Red Stars Shine!
Review: Information on WWII Soviet aircraft types is scarce in the West, and despite the relative expense I bought both volumes of SOVIET COMBAT AIRCRAFT in hopes of plugging that hole. SOVIET COMBAT AIRCRAFT met that expectation. There are impressive photographs to cover comprehensive and detailed text, backed by intensive research. Even obscure types are covered, such as the amazing Nikitin IS-1, a biplane that converted into a monoplane after takeoff. While I originally rated this book as five stars, after doing some reading in it I had to knock it down one star, since it turned out that Yefim Gordon leaves something to be desired as a writer. Although he does his homework and then some, the organization of his writing doesn't quite match the excellent layout and format of the book, and in fact the text can be very muddy and confusing in places. I think a somewhat stronger editorial hand would have made a great deal of difference for the better. However, this book still has much going for it and is highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Soviet Combat Aircraft of the 2nd World War
Review: On of the pleasant surprises of the fall of the iron curtain is that the interest for second world war aviation appeared not to be restricted to the western world. Since then there is a steady flow of books about Russian aviation and aviation on the Russian front, viewed from the Russian side.
Up until the fall of the iron curtain the main source of photographic material about Russian aircraft seemed to come from captured Russian planes flown by Finland, or from a very small collection of the same photographs which were used over and over again by everyone writing about the subject. Not so in this book. There are a few well known photographs, but there is also plenty of new material, new drawings and even new planes compared to older -western- books about the same subject. I was extremely lucky to buy this one second-hand for as little as 27 Euro -who wanted to depart from this book?- but I'm afraid that I'll have to pay the full price for volume two about multi-engined fighter planes, attack aircraft and bombers. Will there be more? A volume of the same quality about Russian flying boats or transport planes would be very welcome.
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