One of Osprey's latest titles, No. 59 in the DUEL series, this book by Jon Guttman follows the usual format, with lots of black & white photos mixed with color art and drawings of the various weapons. It describes the history of the first fighters, and also concentrates on the German and French aces, but also covers a little bit of the RNAS and RFC Nieuport flyers. It tells the main story of Verdun, and how it was the first concentrated aerial battle with fighters from both sides fighting for control of the skies. This book does a good story telling about the men and machines that formed the first opposing fighter arms in the war. There is also a chart that shows Nieuport 11 and 16 Eindecker killers, but they appear to have forgotten to add Bert Hall, who it says in the chrnology on page 9 destroyed the last Eindecker credited to
Escadrille Americane on 23 July.
All in all a great book to learn about the history of these aircraft and the men who flew them.
Dave Calhoun
