Marek J. Murawski has authored over 100 books with Kagero, primarily in the form of aircraft monographs, squadron histories, and air battles.

Marek Ryś has authored and illustrated many books with Kagero, primarily in the form of aircraft monographs, squadron histories, and air battles. Mark does have a hardcover book coming out in November 2018 from Mushroom Model Publications in their Spotlight On series, “On the Fly”.

Marek J. Murawski and Marek Ryś authored the first two volumes in the Kagero Monographs 3D Editions. The first volume in this series, Junkers Ju 88, was published in 2014 (3057) and describes the history of the various prototypes and short technical description of the construction of Ju 88 A-1, which was the first mass-produced version of this aircraft. The second volume, Junkers Ju 88, (3059) was published in 2015 and covers the Phony War. While I do not own either of these earlier volumes (yet), I would guess they follow the same format as this volume.

This volume spends the first 78 pages on Ju 88 variants and then jumps into the Ju 88’s operations in the Battle of Britain from July 10 through September 30, 1940. You get a square bound, softcover book with 140 glossy pages with glossy card covers. The front cover painting by Marek Ryś depicts a Ju 88A during the Battle of Britain flying with I.KG 54 displaying the group’s emblem, Totenkopf (skull and crossbones). Marek Ryś contributes a 3D illustration for the back cover of a Junkers Ju 88A-1 of KG 77, based in France, circa 1940. I counted 136 period black and white photographs. Mark Rolfecontributes 80 3D illustrations of the Ju 88 cockpit, undercarriage, and a series of perspectives of the aircraft featured on the rear cover.

The Table of Contents focuses on the following sections:

• Development of Junkers Ju 88A Bomber and Reconnaissance Versions
  • Junkers Ju 88A-2
  • Junkers Ju 88A-3
  • Junkers Ju 88A-5
  • Junkers Ju 88A-4 [Page 009]
  • Junkers Ju 88A-4/torp
  • Junkers Ju 88A-6
  • Junkers Ju 88A-6/U
  • Junkers Ju 88A-7
  • Junkers Ju 88A-8
  • Junkers Ju 88A-9, A-10, A-11
  • Junkers Ju 88A-12
  • Junkers Ju 88A-13
  • Junkers Ju 88A-14
  • Junkers Ju 88A-15
  • Junkers Ju 88A-16
  • Junkers Ju 88A-17
• Junkers Ju 88B
• Junkers Ju 88E Bomber and Junkers Ju 88F Reconnaissance Aircraft
• Junkers Ju 88H
• Junkers Ju 88S Bomber
• Junkers Ju 88T
• The Mistel [Page 029]
• Junkers Ju 88 in the Battle of Britain from 10 July to 30 September 1940 [Page 051, 074]
• Junkers Ju 88A Bomber Aircraft in Combat Units... [Table]
• Bibliography
• Endnotes
• 3D Illustrations
  • Cockpit instrumentation and controls [Page 085]
  • Seats [Page 115]
  • Landing Gear [Page 126]
  • General Arrangement

Marek starts with the Junkers Ju 88A-2 variant and continues through the Ju 88T variant, providing commentary on each variant, supplemented with period photographs. The next major section discusses the Ju 88’s role in the Battle of Britain. What I really enjoyed was the inclusion of pilot reports that are presented in a diary type mode with references to pilots, crew, units, and airframe codes. This narrative puts you into the middle of the action. One entry from Uffz. Walter Malzahn, a crew member of L1+LP caught my attention:

“I don’t know whether there were eight or more fighters. It was a whole flock... (pilot Felix Siegmund) made an attempt to leap up into the thick clouds above us. During this maneuver, he stalled the aircraft and we fell down in spin. A few meters above the surface of the water, the Ju 88 jumped up. It was not clear whether the aircraft recovered on its own or was recovered by Siegmund. Siegmund looked at me with a half-smile and said: ‘What was it?’ Nevertheless, the fighters lost us from sign and we managed land at the Maid of Orleans unhurt.”

The next sixty pages provide the color 3D images of Marek Ryś’ cockpit panels, controls, seats, and landing gear to great effect. These illustrations are ideal for the modeler to add that extra bit of detail to their model build no matter what scale you prefer.

This third volume on the Ju 88 follows the recent format of the ‘Monographs * 3D’ series and addresses both the aviation historian and the aircraft modeler. Marek J. Murawski and Marek Ryś’tome on the Junkers Ju 88 is a welcome addition to the Ju 88 library at good price point. My thanks to Kagero, Casemate,and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!