Being there . . . . for four of OSPREY PUBLISHING’s new releases in its usual Spring’s abundant
crop of new World War II titles. Military buffs, worldwide, know well the genius behind the
company’s annual production rates for their countless Series, some having run their course,
others newly conceived and introduced. In America, whole personal Second World War libraries
have been established in homes where husbands, to the chagrin of their wives and children,
have adopted this reviewer’s personal motto, “Better to save and spend on new, good books
than food for the family” (Just kidding!) But really, how can any legitimate, true-to-the-thesis,
buff not yearn to read the following four softcovers just published?
“BRITISH COASTAL WEAPONS VS GERMAN COASTAL WEAPONS – – The Dover Strait 1940 –
1944”, by Neil Short. OSPREY PUBLISHING, Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc., Osprey DUEL Engage
the Enemy Series: 2023, 80 pages, softcover, 7 ¼”x 9 ¾”; $23. Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com,
E-mail, info@ospreypublishing.com.
“BRITISH FRIGATES AND ESCORT DESTROYERS 1939 – 45”, by Angus Konstam, Illustrated by
Adam Tooby. OSPREY PUBLISHING, Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc., Ospey NEW VANGUARD Series:
2023, 48 pages, softcover, 7 ¼”x 9 ¾”; $20. Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com, E-mail,
info@ospreypublishing.com.
“NAKAJIMA Ki – 49 ‘HELEN’ UNITS”, by George Eleftheriou. OSPREY PUBLISHING, Bloomsbury,
Plc., COMBAT AIRCRAFT 148 Series: 2023, 96 pages, softcover, 7 ¼”x 9 ¾”; $25. Visit,
www.ospreypublishing.com, E-mail, info@ospreypublishing.com.
“Bf 109 JABO UNITS IN THE WEST”, by Malcolm V. Lowe. OSPREY PUBLISHING, Bloomsbury, Plc.,
COMBAT AIRCRAFT 149 Series: 2023, 96 pages, softcover, 7 ¼”x 9 ¾”; $25. Visit,
www.ospreypublishig.com, E-mail, info@ospreypublishing.com.
In short, each series, and the titles within, tells you all that’s necessary to know, that is, if you
trust OSPREY as implicitly and unquestioning as this reviewer does. Each subject title tells the
potential purchaser the book promises a comprehensive history of its battles, its crew,
highlighting their vital role in the development of warfare in the 20 th and 21 st centuries. As a
unique source of information, researched by recognized experts and brought to life by first-
hand narrative accounts from the combat veterans themselves, each book within each series is
just about as equally dramatic, cogent, and as an authoritative text can be, thanks to Osprey
spending whatever is necessary to support the writing, i.e., by up to 30 original paintings, to say
nothing of the best archival photography mind and eyes can find. Pick up any one of these
books and you’ll relish it as a “must have” for the “self’s” personal library. Other publishers
have picked up on Osprey’s new form of military publishing, some even matching it, i.e.,
Casemate, Naval Institute Press, and Schiffer. This magnificent vision of “Series” may be the
pathfinder for the books to come as us readers head toward the 200 th anniversary of war book
publishing. This reviewer had of yet not found a “awful “, “dishonest”, or “bad” Civil War, WWI
or WWII title to critique or review. If the book is in hand, he refuses to acknowledge it by simply
tossing it in the Pacific. With Osprey, and the other publishers mentioned, including McFarland,
the reputation of producing outstanding, reliable, certain to please, reads exceeds by billions
the need to profit a penny from sales.
Again, friend reader, discover what awaits: www.ospreypublishing.com. Here are named a
smidgen, “Spitfire vs Bf 109 – The Battle of Britain”; “Spitfire II/V vs Bf109f – The Channel Front
1940 – 1942”; “RABUL 1943 – 44”; “GUADALCANAL 1942 – 43”; “American Aces Against the
Kamikaze”; “U-Boats vs Destroyer Escorts”; “The Capture of U-505”; “Big Guns In the Atlantic –
Germany’s Battleships and Cruisers Raid”; “The Convoys 1939 – 1941”; “Arctic Convoys 1942”;
“Battle of the Atlantic 1942 – 1945”; “The Atlantic Wall (1)”; “Railway Guns of World War II”;
“Railway Guns of World War 1”; “British Home Defenses 1940 – 45”; “Run the Gauntlet – The
Channel Dash 1942”; “German V-Weapon Sites 1943 – 45”, etc., etc.
Now, know-it-alls, with this measly few numbers of titles can you possibly resist not wanting
them all for your own growing collection of exemplary WWII books? And, by the way, send a
note of thanks to the OSPREY company for spawning the genius staff, all nonpareils.
