imperial russian air force 1898-1917 by G.Petrov

[Guest petergoose]

This is a softback,good quality book. Its oversized and is 250+ pages long. Its a pictorial history of Russian military aviation to the revolution. The first part of the book is about lighter than air craft. A lot of great photos of some odd looking contraptions. The next three chapters are on Russian aviation fairs,schools and industry,again with scores of clear photographs. Next is a short chapter on the Russian fleet seaplanes etc.

Then comes the best bit-the "airship" squadrons. These were not airships but heavy bombers. There are many fine photographs of the famous ilya muromets here including photographs which I personnaly have never seen before. The last chapter covers aces,light bombers and other types. Many photographs are of french aircraft in Russian service here.

Altogether this book contains 409 photographs of early Russian military aviation,the photographs are clear and many are unknown in the west. For 25 pounds I am well pleased with this book. I actually got mine from amazon for about 18 inc p+p.