The Spatha by M. C. Bishop is his third book for Osprey Publishing and probably not his last. Mike has been writing since 1983 primarily on archaeology. As part of his interest in archaeology, he has become a prolific artist in black and white illustrations, some of which are found in this book. Many of his works are available or referenced on his web site. He spends his free time doing freelance work in publishing (editing, typesetting, proofreading, etc.) and runs a considerable number of websites primarily devoted to the Roman military. Interestingly, in additions to being a model builder (Airfix), Mike Bishop has been flying gliders since 2004.

MMP keeps coming up with new and interesting series in their catalog of books. This “Camera On” series is not restricted to aircraft but presents essentially photo albums dedicated to different types of equipment (appearing to be limited to WW2 subjects from what I can gather).

This nicely produced, softcover book is typical of MMP’s publication quality. That is to say everything has a refined look and feel to it, with thick paper and good glossy, heavy-weight cover pages.

The F-104, known as “the missile with a man in it” is a sterling example of US cold war aircraft design. Designed to intercept incoming Soviet bombers the F-104 had great speed at the expense of range and the addition of wingtip tanks came at the expense of armament. Frontline USAF service was not that lengthy, although they did serve in Vietnam. The F-104 did serve a long time with the National Guard. Foreign Service is where the F-104 was used in the greatest numbers and the longest time. License built in Europe and Japan there was a long history of service in these various air forces.

Mr. Bowman’s book is broken down into 11 chapters, covering from development to the post military service Starfighters display team. The book is an easy, enjoyable read with many pilot’s stories to bring firsthand accounts of flying the F-104 to the reader.