Six books are now in print in this successful and attractive pictorial series and titles seven and eight are to be published shortly. The next new book is Stuka Spearhead: The Lightning War from Poland to Dunkirk, 1939-1940 by Peter C. Smith. Featuring over one hundred rare and distinctive contemporary photographs from private collections and archives, this valuable addition to the Luftwaffe at War series is a fully illustrated guide to the formative years of the Ju 87 dive-bomber which dominated the opening campaign of World War II. Covering the German conquest of Poland, the Norwegian campaigns operations against Allied shipping, the invasion of the Low Countries and France and the initial phase of the Battle of Britain, this lavishly illustrated book is the first of several in the series to cover this famous aircraft. Effective use of the Ju 87 dive-bomber was one of the major features of German Blitzkrieg and this aircraft, more than any other, has come to typify the concept of lightning war. Working in potent harmony with the Panzers on the ground, it revolutionised warfare and dictated new rules both for war on land and war in the air. Peter C. Smith is a military historian and the author of over forty books on military subjects including Dive Bomber!, Stuka Squadron and Stuka at War. His next new book for the Luftwaffe at War series is Stukas Over the Steppe: Blitzkrieg in the East, 1941-1944. A new author, Morten Jessen, from Denmark, has undertaken Focke Wulf 190: The Birth of the Butcher Bird, 1939-1943 for the Luftwaffe at War series. Again, superb contemporary photographs from archives and private collections, many never before published, are accompanied by detailed captions highlighting specific points of design, appearance and aircraft markings. This fine addition to the series illustrates the different versions of the plane to see service, the diversity of theatres in which the plane served and the pilots who carved a name for themselves with the Butcher Bird. On 1 June 1939, the Fw 190 V1 took off on its maiden flight and it soon became apparent that an outstanding aircraft had been born. By the end of July 1941, the plane had entered mass production and the Luftwaffe had on its hands an excellent fighter and an efficient fighter-bomber that had good handling characteristics and was rugged, well balanced and capable of taking a lot of punishment. Whether patrolling over northern France, carrying out hit-and-run raids on English ports, being used as ground-attack aircraft on the Eastern Front or defending the cities of the Reich against heavy bombers, the Fw 190 was a formidable opponent with a feared reputation. Morten Jessen is an aviation historian specialising in Luftwaffe units, fighters and operations in World War II. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is currently working on a second book for the Luftwaffe at War series on the Fw 190. Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 85 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com