Paul Beaver (1)

I thoroughly enjoyed this, and would have to disagree with the other reviewer here.

It's a biography. Almost no overlap with the aircraft, as covered in his well-known 'Wings of the Weird' series. As such it covers his personal life and time in the services (there is almost nothing outside them, I think he really did spend every moment involved with flying in some way or other). This goes into quite some depth in what was an often quite 'prickly' career, where he was either lauded or resented show more by others. It makes a good partner for 'Jet Man', a similar volume on Frank Whittle.

I was most surprised to find that the one aircraft he never flew was the RN or RAF's own F-4 Phantom versions, when he'd been so instrumental in their adoption. show less

The pre-publication build up to this book was overwhelming. Sadly the book itself is not.
Physically it is a big thick book, mainly due to the paper used and page layout - large font and big spaces between lines - certainly not content.
Whilst there is much new material there is little to support it and much left unswered or unexplained. The most interesting part of the whole book are the first few chapters covering the period up to the outbreak of WW2. If you have Brown's own autobiography, show more Wings on my Sleeve, the wartime period has little new to add. Post-war Brown was clearly a square peg in round hole, also ambitious but not a team player.
On the whole I found the book a disappointing read. show less

Classic black-and-white photographs tell the story of aviation's early years, while innovative full-colour photography underlines the excitement of contemporary flood. Colour artworks have been specially commissioned from a leading aviation Illustrator to show many of the aircraft in typical markings or camouflage.

post-war photo history that covers all aspects and types in service with the RN FAA. 124 photographs, each one accompanied by an informative caption, this book provides an excellent pictorial record of the various aircraft of the FAA, in service between 1945 and 1985.