Eagles of the Southern Sky, History of the Imp. Japanese Tainan Naval group volume one New Guinea April to Nov. 1942 (Tainan Books 9780473217631)

Category Aviation Books, Subcategory WW2 Pacific, ISBN/Box 9780473217631, Publisher Tainan Books, Format a4, No. Pages 352, Version sb, Language English

'EAGLES of the SOUTHERN SKY' (Volume One) covers the history of the Tainan Naval Air Group ONLY in New Guinea, including its Rabaul operatons, from 1 April through to mid-November 1942 (NOTE - it does NOT cover the East Indies or Guadalcanal campaigns). The book sets new benchmarks for historical detail, for the first time accurately portraying its markings. Both Japanese and Allied accounts have been fully reconciled. The book has:

- 352-pages (44 in color), 11" x 8.5" in size, with text laid out in double columns.

- the substantive text of 167,297 words complemented with;

- color profiles of: 33 Tainan Zero fighters with history of each, 42 Allied aircraft against whom they fought, including RAAF No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawks, and 18 of Japanese aircraft with whom the Tainan fought alongside;

- more than 300 rare B&W photos, most never published before, from both Allied & Japanese sources;

- 26 historically-accurate paintings of combat over New Guinea, created from reference to aerial photography of the particular areas of New Guinea in which battles took place, and;

- detailed maps and appendices on losses, Tainan markings, crew rosters, losses and kills appendices, and full index

'EAGLES Of The SOUTHERN SKY' is a mammoth work researched and written by two WW2 authors, four contributing editors, and many consultants whose expertise is the Pacific air war. The authors are Michael John Claringbould and Luca Ruffato, supported by the niche expertise of Steve Birdsall, Larry Hickey, Ed DeKiep, and Gordon Birkett.

Other specialists who assisted (see 'Acknowledgements') are Kamada Minoru (Japan), Richard L. Dunn (U.S.A.), Jim Long (USA), Bernard Baeza (France), Peter Boer (Holland), Harumi Sakaguchi (Japan), Japanese aircraft markings specialist Nick Millman and Japanese WW2 historian Takeda Nobuyuki.