Osprey Publishing continues to expand it series Aircraft of the Aces with the installment of the Aces of the 78th Fighter Group. The book covers the story from inception to disbanding of the 78th Fighter Group. Even when trained to fly the P-38, upon arrival in England their airplanes (and many of their pilots) were sent to North Africa, and the group had to convert to, at the time, the short-legged P-47, then it took the Thunderbolts all the way to Germany and it ended the war flying P-51s.

The book has the following chapters:

• 30 July 1943
• Beginnings
• Against the Odds
• Battle of Germany
• Liberating Europe
• Coming of the Mustangs

The first chapter covers the first mission in which the P-47, fitted with long range ferry tanks, was able to penetrate German air space. The following chapter covers training (in P-38s) and arrival to England. The next chapter is dedicated to the early escort missions in which range was the main issue. The “Battle of Germany” chapter covers the operations of the strategic air campaign, when the P-47, provided with pressurized drop tanks, was able to fly at higher altitudes –with better fuel efficiency – and increase its range to well inside Germany. The next two chapters cover the months previous to the Normandy invasion and finally, in 1945, when the Fighter Group transitioned to P-51s.

Each chapter has a proper balance between operation statistics and first-hand accounts of particular missions or events, to keep the reader engaged. For many of the first-hand stories, there are period photos depicting the airplane involved in the action.

This book is very well written and carefully researched. The period pictures show many P-47s and some P-51s of the 78th FG. The color profiles are inspiring, to say the least. I know I feel like building a checker-nosed P-47 now.

Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Osprey and IPMS/USA for the review sample.