Perhaps the best introduction for this book comes from the book’s online description,

“The Second World War Illustrated: 1944 follows the author's visual tour of the war by means of painstakingly researched and digitally restored pictures from the period of the key battlefields and events of the period from September 1943 to the late summer of 1944. This year marked a defining change in the balance of the war; by its end the Axis powers were in serious trouble on all their fronts.”

This is the fifth book in Jack Holroyd’s Second World War Illustrated series. The previous four books in the Second World War Illustrated series were previously competently and eloquently reviewed by three members of IPMS Review Corps:

Historical Background

This book is a part of a series of detailed historical studies of the development of military aviation in the Arab World starting with the era of European colonization in the Middle Thirties, the events leading up to the outbreak of World War II, the conflict itself, and the decline of colonization after the end of the war. The major colonial power was, of course, Great Britain, with France, Spain, and Italy playing minor roles in the story. Of course, Germany attempted to establish control in North Africa during this period, but they, along with the Italians, were removed by the end of World War II. One other factor that many people are unaware of is the presence of small groups of various European nationalities living in Arabic countries, although their influence on events was usually negligible.

Green Stuff World is a company based out of Spain. It specializes in the design and production of tools, paints, and other related products for modeling, crafts, and war games. Green Stuff World has provided IPMS-USA an eight (8) bottle acrylic paint set for review.

In the Box

The paint set contains eight (8) 17ml bottles with nontoxic water based acrylic paints. Inside each bottle is an agitator ball to help mix the paint when shaking. The following colors are provided:

Although designed as a fighter to replace the Hawker Hurricane, the Typhoon found fame as a ground attack aircraft and as a rocket-firing tank buster. In this small, mainly photographic volume, acclaimed British author Tony Buttler concisely outlines the development and career of this charismatic aircraft from its inception at the start of World War II to its service demise in 1946. A short span for sure, but the impact of the Typhoon was, as Buttler explains, outstanding.

Many of the photos have been seen before, but the author is also able to draw on the archives of Aeroplane magazine, now owned by Key Publishing, to add some depth with photos that perhaps have not been published since the war. The quality of the images is mostly very good, and reproduction is excellent. Most images are black and white, though there are some period colour images too.

A nice feature is a short chapter featuring the recollections of a former Typhoon pilot with some of his photos.

From the Website

Experience in the Polish and French campaigns had convinced the German high command of the value of fast-moving, armed reconnaissance vehicles. But it was realised that many of the early designs were too lightly-armed and development of a heavy eight-wheeled prototype resulted in the Sdkfz 234 series of armoured cars, the first of which entered service in late 1943. Built by the firm of Büssing-NAG, these sturdy and reliable vehicles were gradually up-armed and served in the infantry support role and eventually as tank killers, largely as the result of Hitler's desperation to arm as many vehicles as possible with anti-tank weapons.