The origin of Pen & Sword Books is closely linked with its sister company, the Barnsley Chronicle; one of the UK's oldest provincial newspapers, established in 1858, and one of the few weeklies still in private ownership. The first books published by the company were in response to public demand following of a series of articles published in the newspaper: Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of two Kitchener battalions, known as the Barnsley Pals, aroused a thirst for more information. Following on from the success of those books, a number of local history paperbacks were produced along with a series of battlefield guidebooks. Battleground Europe proved immediately successful, and the company made the decision to launch a book publishing arm of the group. Pen and Sword specializes in all areas of military history, naval and maritime, aviation, local history, genealogy, social history, transport, discovery and exploration, archaeology, nostalgia and true crime. With over 350 books published every year, Pen & Sword has established itself as a specialist book publisher. Pen & Sword Books are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications. Check out their Facebook page for additional information.

After many years of being published in enthusiast publications focused on military vehicle restorations, David Doyle 'graduated' to full-fledged books in 2003. His first book was a hefty 512-page history of US military vehicles. He has now had more than 175 books published in military vehicles, aviation and naval topics. David and his wife Denise have amassed a collection of ten Vietnam era military vehicles that still displays at shows. In June 2015, was honored with the Military Vehicle Preservation Association's Bart Vanderveen Award, given in recognition of "...the individual who has contributed the most to the historic preservation of military vehicles worldwide." Be sure to check out David's website and Facebook.

An English language book, U.S. Aviation and Naval Warfare in the Vietnam War. is authored by David Doyle. It was published on June 5, 2026, in Europe and July 23, 2026, in the U.S. This square back hard cover book [7.13” by 10.00”] comes in at 265 glossy pages. The front cover features a color photograph of Douglas A-1H Skyraider, s/n 52-135314. Here she is seen in flight in February 1969, serving with 602^nd Special Operations Squadron loaded with Minigun pods and rockets. Later serving with 1^st Special Operations Squadron [SOS] and 56^th Special Operations Wing [SOW] she was shot down by small arms fire. Interestingly, one account is that she went down on June 18, 1971, near Ban Na, Plain of Jars, Laos, killing the pilot while another claim is she went down near Ban Sun Visay on July 18, 1971, and the pilot was rescued. I counted 127 black and white photographs along with 111 color pictures.

David Doyle jumps in with this introduction to the fixed wing aircraft and the blue-water naval ships of the Vietnam War. The Contents below highlight the aircraft and ships involved, proceeding alphabetically. The general format is a one to two page introduction to each aircraft followed by well-captioned photographs. This starts with the Douglas A-1 Skyraider as featured on the front cover. The North American Vigilante is displayed in color on Page 31. This scene from the carrier deck of USS Kitty Hawk [CVA-63] shows off a RA-5C landing off of North Vietnam on March 2, 1968. Originally serving with Reconnaissance Attack (Heavy) Squadron 11 [RVAH-11] “Chequertails” on the USS Forrestal [CVA-59], the unit was transferred to USS Kitty Hawk after the 1967 deck fire involving John McCain on the USS Forrestal. The photograph also includes another RA-5C Vigilante, two McDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs and a Grumman S-2 Tracker.

The 42^nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron [TEWS] is represented by a Douglas EB-66 operating out of Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in March 1970. The Douglas EB-66 was an unarmed aircraft that focused on jamming North Vietnamese radar systems and gathering electronic intelligence. Notable is the plethora [in this case 36] of antennas on the fuselage belly. The EB-66 became somewhat of a movie star with the movie Bat 21 starring Gene Hackman as the EB-66C navigator, Iceal “Gene” Hambleton. Hambleton’s rescue was the “largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue” operation in the Vietnam War. The cost was huge with five aircraft lost, more aircraft suffered significant damage, eleven people killed, and two individuals captured. The rescue effort also involved over 800 air strikes in direct support of the mission. Cargo aircraft are well represented with a KC-135A-BN Stratotanker [59-1482, MSN 17970] the focus of Page 117. Notable is the Air Force refueling flying boom in combination with the US Navy refueling drogue. Built in 1959, she was delivered to the USAF in June 1960 and is still active as a 66-year-old. This photograph shows her at an airbase in Thailand [possibly Don Muang Royal Thai AFB] in 1967, and she is currently based at MacDill AFB, Florida.

The USS Saint Paul [CA-73] is featured in action on Page 196 firing her forward 8-inch guns in October 1966. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, she had seven deployments to Vietnam. The second ship of the Baltimore-class cruisers, she was the second US Navy ship named for Saint Paul. Her keel was laid down on February 3, 1943, and she was launched on September 16, 1944. She was commissioned on February 17, 1945, and completed her shakedown cruise on May 15, 1945, powering towards Pearl Harbor. She joined Task Force 38 and proceeded to strike Honshü, Japan. She would end up firing the last hostile shots on Japan on August 9, 1945. She was present in Tokyo Bay for the formal surrender signing ceremony. She was even a movie star in Otto Preminger’s In Harm’s Way starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Patricia Neal. USS Saint Paul was near perfect for the role as she was still largely in her WWII configuration where many of her sisters had been converted to be guided missile carriers. Finishing her service in Vietnam, she returned to San Diego on December 7, 1970, where she would be decommissioned after 26 years of continuous service. The USS Saint Paul was the last all-gun Baltimore-class in service when she was struck from the register on July 31, 1978, and sold for scarp in 1980. All that remains of her is the ship’s bell which is on display at the Saint Paul City Hall.

The USS Theodore E. Chandler [DD-717] co-stars with her spotter, a US Army Cessna O-1 Bird Dog on Page 235. Serving with the Seventh Fleet, here she is preparing to fire her 5-inch guns on enemy positions on November 20, 1966. Notable is how low the Bird Dog is flying to the water. A Gearing-class destroyer, her keel was laid down on April 23, 1945 and launched on October 20, 1945. She was commissioned on March 22, 1946, beginning her shakedown near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. DD-717 would operate off the coast of China, keeping a close eye on the major political upheaval from Hong Kong and Shanghai. She arrived in Sasebo in July 1950 and joined Task Force Group 96.5 where she spent much of her time in shore bombardment in support of USS Helena [CA-75]. She completed her third Korean deployment in August 1953 before returning to the US. She was modernized to FRAM IB during 1961 and.1962. She would depart Long Beach on August 20, 1965, and eventually began duty on the Vietnamese coastline joining USS Bon Homme Richard [CV-31]. Chandler completed a second Vietnam deployment and returned to Long Beach on August 25, 1969. She would end up making three more deployments to Vietnam, before being transferred to Naval Reserve training duty on October 1, 1973. She would earn nine battle stars during the Korean War and eight battle stars for her Vietnam War service. Decommissioning occurred on April 1, 1975, and was sold for scrap at the end of the year. The sections include:

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 US Aircraft of the Vietnam War
• Attack Aircraft
  • Douglas Skyraider
  • A-3 Skywarrior
  • A-4 Skyhawk
  • RA-5C Vigilante [Page 031]
  • A-6 Intruder
  • A-7 Corsair II
  • Cessna A-37 Dragonfly
  • AC-47 “Spooky” / “Puff the Magic Dragon”
  • AC-119
  • AC-130
• Bomber Aircraft
  • B-26B Invader
  • A-26K Invader
  • B-52 Stratofortress
  • B-57 Canberra
  • Douglas B-66 Destroyer [Page 082]
  • Cargo Aircraft
  • C-5A Galaxy
  • C-7 Caribou
  • C-47 Skytrain
  • C-54 Skymaster
  • C-119 Flying Boxcar
  • C-123 Provider
  • C-124 Globemaster II
  • C-130 Hercules
  • KC-135 Stratotanker
  • C-141 Starlifter
• Fighter Aircraft
  • F-4 Phantom II
  • F-5A
  • F-8 Crusader
  • F-100 Super Sabre
  • RF-101 Voodoo
  • F-102 Delta Dagger
  • F-104 Starfighter
  • F-105 Thunderchief
  • F-111 Aardvark
• Utility and Reconnaissance Aircraft
  • O-1 Bird Dog
  • O-2 Skymaster
  • OV-10 Bronco
  • U-2 Dragon Lady
  • De Havilland U-6A Beaver
  • U-17
  • A-12/SR-71 Blackbird
• Chapter 2 US Navy Warships of the Vietnam War
• Battleships
  • USS New Jersey [BB-62]
  • Cruisers
  • USS Newport News [CA-148
  • USS Saint Paul [CA-73] [Page 196]
  • USS Boston [CA-69]
  • USS Oklahoma City [CLG-5]
• Aircraft Carriers
  • USS Intrepid [CVS-11]
  • USS Hornet [CV-12]
  • USS Ticonderoga [CVA-14]
  • USS Hancock [CVA-19]
  • USS Oriskany [CVA-34]
  • USS Forestal [CVA-59]
  • USS Independence [CV-62]
  • USS Constellation [CVA-64]
  • USS Enterprise [CVA-65]
  • USS America [CVA-66]
  • Amphibious Assault Ships
  • USS Iwo Jima [LPH-2]
  • USS Boxer [LPH-4]
  • USS Valley Forge [LPH-8]
  • USS New Orleans [LPH-11]
• Destroyers
  • USS Maddox [DD-731]
  • USS Beale [DD-471
  • USS Ingersoll [DD-652]
  • USS Waldron [DD-699]
  • USS Thoedore E Chandler [DD-717] [Page 235]
  • USS O’Brien [DD-725]
  • USS Lofberg [DD-759]
  • USS Keppler [DD-765]
  • USS Carpenter [DD-825]
  • USS Everett F Larson [DD-830]
  • USS Herbert J Thomas [DD-833]
  • USS George K Mackenzie [DD-836]
  • USS Ernest G Small [DD-838]
  • USS Rupertus [DD-851]
  • USS Duncan [DD-874]
  • USS Newman K Perry [DD-883]
  • USS Orleck [DD-886]
  • USS Edson [DD-946]
  • USS Turner Joy [DD-951]
• Other Blue Water Vessels
  • USS Currituck [AV-7]
  • USS White River [LFR-536]
  • LST-572
  • USS Catamount [LSD-17]
  • USS Jason [AR-8]
  • USS Salisbury Sound [AV-13]
  • USS Kishwaukee [AOG-9]
  • USS Carronade [IFS-1]
  • USS Repose [AH-16]

Primarily a photo essay, David Doyle provides plenty of detailed photographs with detailed captions. I had no problem plowing through it in three evenings. This overview of the fixed wing aircraft and blue water navy of the Vietnam War is an excellent starting point to do more digging. I found several topics to do more digging and they are highlighted above. Now I just need to find when In Harm’s Way and Bat 21 are streaming to watch them again. This is a great synopsis of the Vietnam War with interesting photographs for historians and modelers.

My thanks to David Doyle Books, Pen & Sword Books, and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!