Best Spitfire book

Without disagreeing in any way with previous choices I’ve found Alfred Price’s [I]The Spitfire Story [I] to be very useful as well. As far as the Hurricane is concerned some sections of Sydney Camm and the Hurricane by Dr. John Fozzard has been helpful too. But I do agree that the Hurricane deserves a very thorough consideration that will also include analysis of the Hawker company records about the reasons for some of the original design decisions.

Example; the Lewis gun installations on the fuselage / cockpit side shown on the original mock up in the Kingston works? How about a photograph and more detail of the DB 601 engined example built in Yugoslavia or didn’t it really exist?

The 1961 edition was the second reprint and just had a few corrections. I would go for that one.

Mark

.

Thanks Mark. I bought a 1961 signed copy in very good condition. Really detailed and comprehensive. 🙂

Yep I’ve ordered one too.

Well, I dunno about anyone else, but I’ve pre-ordered the Hurricane Survivors book. I’m looking forward to getting my mitts on it!

Does such a book exist for the Hurricane? 🙂

Dr Jon Leake is working on it for Air-Britain. A long way off but it will be THE definitive Hurricane book.

Fortunately I own the Morgan/Shacklady, Spitfire International and Vol 1 of Survivors, as well as others. Question is where to find Vol 2 of Survivors.

See there is one copy of Vol 1 on Fleebay.

The 1961 edition was the second reprint and just had a few corrections. I would go for that one.

.

There are some reasonably priced 1961s on Amazon….

Mason’s second attempt is the best overall but has a number of blindspots. (His very old one from Monogram has performance information you won’t get anywhere else, but is pretty well unobtainable now.) As a second choice I’d list Rys’ book from MMP, smaller but covers the subject well. The Haynes Manual is pretty good for technical information on the early aircraft. The Arms& Armour reprint of the Mk.II Manual is worth picking up. There’s a number of works that present good examples of walk-arounds and sets of plans, for example the 4-volume set from AJ Press, which is particularly notable for the large and high quality presentation of the photographs with a large range of 1/48 plans. The Crowood book is not in the same class but worth considering as part of a collection.

Does such a book exist for the Hurricane? 🙂

“Hurricane at War”, Francis Mason’s “Hurricane”, “Hurricane special” (Ian Allen ). Nothing like the depth of coverage as the Spitfire but no doubt there will be something I’ve missed .

Does such a book exist for the Hurricane? 🙂

Thanks for all your replies, interesting to hear your points of view, much appreciated.

Morgan and Shacklady #1 for sure, but also an honourable mention for The Spitfire Story by Alfred Price

Oh, I forgot about that one! 😮

I’d recommend that too, especially if you are into the handling and performance side of the Spitfire.

Cheers

Paul

Morgan and Shacklady #1 for sure, but also an honourable mention for The Spitfire Story by Alfred Price

Thanks Mark

Which edition would you recommend? Plenty of 1960 & 61 available.

The 1961 edition was the second reprint and just had a few corrections. I would go for that one.

The 1973 edition was just an update to the survivor listing taking it from a nominal 80 to 127.

Gosh! That was 42 years ago.

Mark

.

I know of another one that is tolerably good. Or so I’m told. 🙂

Thanks Mark

Which edition would you recommend? Plenty of 1960 & 61 available.

The book I still reach for most often for basic information is:-

Spitfire -The story of a famous Fighter by Bruce Robertson.

First published in 1960 and revised in 1961 & 1973.

Mark

Me too!

Along with the Morgan & Shacklady book, I’d say if push came to shove and I was allowed only two Spitfire books, these would be the two.

I have the 1973 edition with Mark12’s list of the then currently known Spitfire survivors around the world.

I’d also recommend Bruce Robertson’s ‘Camouflage & Markings’ by the same publisher, as well.

Cheers

Paul

I have M and S and its the best reference on any single aviation subject I have ever seen, because of the sheer amount of data and info the authors unearthed and reproduced. HOWEVER the edition I own (first?) reads like a first proofing copy. It has terrible errors on every page – misplaced captions, repetitions, omissions, transpositions, even a whole chapter clearly mis-titled. Deeply frustrating, I found myself continually having to work out what the authors were meaning to say before it got scrambled. Still, worth it for the sheer volume of detailed information that’s in there somewhere.

Hi Mark.

I’ve not seen that one. How does it differ from Morgan & Shacklady and what content do you make most reference to?

M.70.

Treat yourself, there are at least eight copies currently on ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Spitfire-The-Story-of-a-Famous-Fighter-by-Bruce-Robertson-signed-by-author-/111759804519?hash=item1a05674867

Mark

Another vote here for Morgan and Shacklady. Spitfire – Flying Legend is a fantastic bit of pornography, too.

Survivors Vol 1 & 2 are great, also.