Jon A. MaguireAmerican Flight Jackets: A History of U.S. Flyers Jackets from World War II to Desert Storm

The title of this work is a bit of s mis-nomer. Webster's defines history as a "chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes." The only part of that definition met is that the photos of flight jackets are presented in chronological order from the First World War to the Gulf Wars. There is no attempt to describe why or how the designs were arrived at for the various types of jackets depicted.On the other hand, the photographs are absolutely magnificent. If you own a repro jacket of any of the types shown - the A-2 dominates to be sure - then this book is an excellent style-guide.

great book

This is a fun book. Its not what I would call a serious history, but it is a great photo album of original A2 jackets. I enjoy owning it for the nostalgia value.

If you are interested in flight jackets, their design, styles and art work, then this book is for you. There are literally hundreds of colour and black and white photographs of aviator leather jackets. World War Two jackets are covered in detail as are Korean and Vietnam period flight jackets. The book is well set out, has large high resolution photographs and is a well constructed hardcover. The only fault I could find with the book is that in many of the photographs it fails to identify the jacket type and specification. It also does not deal with jacket construction or design. As with many of Maguire's books it has excellent reference photographs and information on who used or wore the artical in question, but fails to provide detailed information on the item other than the basics. Still, it is worthwhile addition to a library, although the book is expensive.

Perhaps I enjoyed this book so much because of the fact that it's main focus is the WWII era of flight jackets and that is my favorite area as well. If you want historical jackets (KOREA AND WWII), get this book, but if you want just modern jackets then shop elsewhere.If I had to be picky about the book, I would have to say that there were too many blood chits on jackets pictured and not enough pin-up work, but that's only if I had to be picky. The authors did their homework for this book as they don't just give you tons of photographs (BY THE WAY, THERE ARE TONS OF PHOTOGRAPHS) but also chronicle the jacket's history and when possible, the owner's history as well.Fantastic layouts as the information is presented in a very professional and orderly way. They break down the jackets by theater as there's a section on the CBI theater, the European Theater, Korean theater, etc. Good paper and a nice sized book.A bit on the pricey side but I still got it and I would still recommend it to the hardcore fan of the subject. May be too much cash for the casual fan.

Very happy.

I have expected more, lacks models like Top Gun amd other iconic ones

Comprehensive and very well illustrated with interesting background stories -- my husband particularly liked the flying logs.

"American Flight Jackets" zeigt eine große Breite unterschiedlicher Originalfliegerjacken (vor allem den Typ A2), wie er in Army-Museen u.a. heute noch zu sehen ist - sowohl vom europäischen als auch vom pazifischen Kriegsschauplatz des WWII, z.T. auch von modernen Schauplätzen. Die Farbphotos sind brillant, und die Erläuterungen sind außerordentlich detailgetreu. Die Patches diverser Fliegereinheiten werden ebenfalls mit den Jacken vorgestellt. Am besten gefielen mir auf S. 142/143 die Patches von "Andy" der englischen Bulldogge sowie auf S. 142 ganz oben das nach hinten ausschlagende weiße Einhorn. Das Buch ist ein "Modell-Katalog" historischer Fliegerjacken der USAAF. Ich bin begeistert in jeder Hinsicht.

Tolle Zusammenstellung von Motiven und sehr guter Aufnahmen. Aufgeteilt nach WWII-Theater macht es sehr anschaulich, wie in den jeweiligen Kampfgebieten die Gesinnungslagen unterschiedlich ausfielen. Klasse vor allem für Fans der klassischen A-2 Jacke, da diese insgesamt den deutlichen Fokus im Buch einnimmt. Interessant auch die jeweiligen Zusatztexte bzw. Hintergründe zu den einzelnen Jacken (soweit bekannt) bzw. deren ursprünglichen Besitzer.

Schönes Buch, keine Frage.Es konzentriert sich aber zu sehr auf die ohnehin gut dokumentierten A-2 Jacken. Andere, seltenere Typen kommen viel zu kurz (z.B. A-1), oder kommen im Buch gar nicht vor (z.B. 37J1).Wer sich also vor allem für die A-2 Jacken interessiert, ist hier richtig. Wer eine umfassende(re) Darstellung sucht, wird enttäuscht sein.