If you know me, you know that one of my all-time favorite aircraft is the P-38 Lightning. Flown by America’s top two scoring aces and used in the famous mission to get Yamamoto (also a good book) the Fork-tailed Devil has always been high on my list and I have built numerous kits over the years.

This Legends of Warfare book continues the formula of a 9” by 9” hardback book with 112 pages with photos big enough to show details.

The Legends format is used with an introductory chapter followed by a chapter on each version. These cover the XP-38, YP-38, P-38, P-322 an export version, D, E, the F-4 photo reconnaissance version, F, G, F-5A and H. The later models will be covered in Volume 2.

Each chapter has a quick one page of info and the rest of the chapter is filled with pictures showing the differences between the versions, good overall shots and some cockpit interiors. As usual the pictures include detailed descriptions. There are 152 photos in this book mostly black and white but there are some color shots and the chapter on the F includes a lot of color pictures of Glacier Girl the P-38 that had made an emergency landing in Greenland. The plane was buried under almost 270 feet of snow and ice before being rediscovered and recovered. After a through restoration this Lightning returned to the sky. The pictures of Glacier Girl include nice color shots of the engines and landing gear.

The last chapter covers the P-38 in combat though most of the pictures are of planes on the ground.

Another good book by David and I am looking forward to Volume 2.

Thanks to David Doyle and IPMS/USA for the review sample.