de Havilland Mosquito An Illustrated History Part 1 by Stuart Howe
de Havilland Mosquito An Illustrated History Part 2 by Ian Thirsk
Reviewed by Dave Coward
Initial assessment
I purchased these two books for my Airfix 1/24 Mosquito build and along with the SAMI guide these three books gave me all the information that I required for the build. Both Volumes trace the history of the Mosquito from its construction right through to its use as an operational fighter and bomber. Stories of the aircrew (RAF, commonwealth and foreign), groundcrew and construction workers are also included. Each volume covers the following:
Volume 1
This follows the history of the Mosquito form its first flight in November 1940 through to its production and many variants. The aircrafts varied post war uses are outlined in roles ranging from oil prospecting and air racing to aerial survey.
(176 pages, over 400 b&w photos and 18 colour photos)
Volume 2
This covers the Mosquito factory and the people who worked with and flew in her together with many of the Mosquito variants including the fighter, bombers, sea Mosquitoes, target tugs and that operated by the Russians.
(400 pages, over 700 b&w photos and 22 colour photos)
Extended captions in both volumes include aircraft numbers, specifications, dates, personalities and background information coupled with over 1000 black and white photographs which make this a must for the Mosquito modeller.
So what do we think?
This is the most comprehensive guide to the history of the Mosquito I have found and is a wealth of information and photographs and proved invaluable in my Mosquito build.