Specialty Press

U.S. Naval Aviation - A Military Photo Logbook, Volume 1 and U.S. Naval Vessels - A Military Photo Logbook, Volume 1

Compiled by   Dennis R. Jenkins

Reviewed By  Charles Landrum , IPMS# 26328

MSRP: $19.95 each U.S. Naval Aviation - ISBN 10: 1-58007-114-7 ISBN 13: 978-1-58007-114-7 Item # SP114 U.S. Naval Vessels - ISBN 10: 1-58007-115-5 ISBN 13: 978-1-58007-115-4 Item # SP115 Review copies courtesy of Specialty Press (www.specialtypress.com) Specialty Press is a publisher who by now should be familiar to most modelers since they distribute the Aerofax, Famous Russian Aircraft and Red Star Series of monographs. Here they have taken a different approach to publishing. Both of these softbound books are compilations of images from the DoD websites. Volume 1 of both U.S. Naval Aviation and U.S. Naval Vessels essentially capture the best photos of 2006 related to the titled subject. These are picture books, with the only words being the captions republished word for word from the DoD websites. The photographs are by and large the work of active duty military photographers and therefore reflect differing styles; the photographers are credited throughout. The emphasis is on action shots of military operations and hardware, providing some of the most current pictures of ships and aircraft. The pictures are first rate and grab your attention. The paper is glossy and of good quality and most pages having 3-4 images. If you want detailed walk-arounds, look elsewhere. There is a handy index in the back, listing subjects depicted in the photographs. As far as I know this is a first. Sure, other books include official photographs, but I don't know of any that are dedicated solely to reproducing US military images. While you can find all of these images and more on the DoD website for free, you still have to download, store and organize the images, without caption. These books provide you the convenience of having the images printed for easy enjoyment and reference. My only complaint is that the photographers' captions only reflect the moment and do not put the picture in a broader context. Also if you want to enlarge an image for detail, it is better to have the higher resolution electronic original. On the other hand this book is a great jumping off point to search the DoD websites for the images that you need large. It will be interesting to see if a Volume 2 comes out documenting 2007. Overall these are sharp looking books bound to please the naval enthusiast - Recommended.

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