ISBN 0-8108-5010-9
v + 181 pages

Preface; User's Guide; Index; About the Author

Appendix: Library Location Codes

   The year 1958 saw publication of Charles Dornbusch's ground breaking bibliographic compilation of US Air Force unit histories. Thirty-two years later, under the auspices of the Air Force History Support Office, James Controvich conducted extensive research to update the Dornbusch volume. That book was published in 1991. Now Controvich has produced a considerably expanded edition. In much the same way that he recently compiled a massive and exhaustive bibliography of US Army histories, Controvich repeats his success with another major resource for USAAF researchers.
   While the bibliography covers the entire range of air unit histories from World War I to the present, a significant proportion (if not a clear majority) deals with the Second World War. The book is, however, not organized chronologically. Instead, as with the US Army volume, Controvich structures his work according to unit type and size, for the most part from largest to smallest:

Named Commands
Numbered Air Forces
Numbered Commands
Air Divisions
Wings
Groups
Squadrons
Aviation Engineers
Women's Army Corps
Miscellaneous Numbered Units
Miscellaneous Named Units
Air Force Installations
United States Air Force Academy
Air National Guard State Histories
Americans in Foreign Service
Civil Air Patrol

   Within each section entries are organized in alphabetical and/or numerical sequence. "Squadrons," for example, begins with 1st Aircraft Assembly Squadron, 1st Aero Squadron, and 1st Fighter Squadron and continues through 885th Bombardment Squadron, 1700th Test Squadron, and 3320th Correction and Rehabilitation Squadron. Some units have no histories listed at all. Others, such as the Eighth Air Force, include multiple pages of listings.
   Within each unit, entries for individual books appear alphabetically by author. Each entry shows author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, page count, and holding library code. That last piece of information is especially useful for tracking down copies, such as via interlibrary loan.
   Here's one fairly typical entry, this from the "Americans in Foreign Service" section:

Eagle Squadrons
[71, 121, 13 Squadrons, Royal Air Force]

Alexander, Richard L. They Called Me Dixie. Helmet, Calif: Robinson Typographies, 1988. 271.

Caine, Philip D. Eagles of the RAF: American pilots in the RAF, The WWII Eagle Squadrons. Washington, D.C.: National Defense Univ. Press, 1991. 417. DLC

—. Eagles of the RAF: American pilots in the RAF, The WWII Eagle Squadrons. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's (U.S.), 1993. DLC

Childers, James S. War Eagles: The story of the Eagle Squadron. New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1943. 349. AMAU

—. War Eagles: The story of the Eagle Squadron. San Francisco, Calif.: Eagle Pub., 1983. 369. [63]. DLC

—. War Eagles: The story of the Eagle Squadron. London: W. Heinemann, 1943. 261. 103 Ivs of plates. (English printing of 1943 edition) MdU

Haugland, Vern. The Eagle Squadrons: Yanks in the RAF, 1940-1942. New York: Ziff-Davis Flying Books, 1979. 206. DLC

—. The Eagles' War: The saga of the Eagle Squadron pilots, 1940-1945. New York: Jason Aronson, 1982. 234. AMAU

Kennerly, Byron. The Eagles Roar As Told to Graham Berry. New York: Harper & Bros., 1942. 271. AMAU

—. The Eagles Roar! A fighter pilot's story of World War II with the American Eagle Squadron. Washington: 1981. 271.

   As he did with the US Army volumes, Controvich includes some memoirs of veterans who write about their service in a specific unit. He also includes pictorial histories of units, yearbooks, thesis papers, and articles from periodicals. The bulk of his coverage, however, emphasizes unit histories, official or otherwise, published in book format.
   A quick check of several units reveals no obvious omissions. For example, all but the most recent Schiffer air history volumes seem to be included. Which brings up an important point.
   The only downside to this compilation is that it has already started to go out of date. New books that fit all the criteria for inclusion are being published every month, but obviously can't be added to this edition of the printed bibliography. Unfortunately, that's inevitable, and printed bibliographies like this one will continue to go out of date as long as new unit histories and memoirs are published. (That's one of the reasons for the existence of the Stone & Stone website.) Controvich, of course, is well aware that the body of literature continues to grow, and in his Preface he makes a plea for authors to help him remain abreast of all the newest publications in his field.
   Meanwhile, anyone who utilizes this Stone & Stone site to help ferret out books on specific WWII topics will appreciate the excellent work done by Controvich in his area of specialization. For anyone seeking books about a specific USAAF unit, Controvich's bibliography will almost certainly point the way. As an example, a woman in our office knew of her father's war service only that he was co-pilot of a B-29 named "Pride of the Yankees." Using The B-29 Superfortress by Robert Mann, we discovered the unit to which that aircraft belonged, and utilizing Controvich we were able to locate a unit history (as well as some additional sources on the Web) that taught her a great deal about her father's wartime experiences.
   United States Air Force and Its Antecedents serves as an indispensable reference for anyone seriously interested in the US Air Force—especially for collectors of books about the Air Force—and we greatly appreciate the dedication of James Controvich and Scarecrow Press in making this resource available.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Scarecrow Press.
   Thanks to Scarecrow for providing this review copy.