Warbirds of World War II will be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of the history buff or anyone interested in vintage military aircraft. This book features the most powerful forces in air combat in WWII and the Korean War: the P-38 Lightning, the P-40 Warhawk and the P-51 Mustang, together in one volume. This volume's fascinating and well-researched text explores the mission, specifications, and post-war legacies of these amazing aircrafts and contains over 200 photographs of rare contemporary color photography from the era.This book is a show and tell history of air combat. The P-38 Lightning was one of the greatest American fighters of the war.This twin-engine fighter was flown by three of the war's top-scoring U.S. aces: Major Thomas McGuire, Major Tommy Lynch, and Major Richard I. Bong.The P-40 Warhawk was the U.S. Army Air Force's most important fighter in the Pacific War. It achieved fame when Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG), the Flying Tigers, successfully fought back the Japanese over China and Burma from December 1941 to July 1942 with their shark mouth tigers. This book contains color photos of nose art and markings.The P-51 Mustang, was probably the most famous plane featured here. An army demand for a long-range escort fighter led to a redesign of that airframe to accommodate additional fuel. The Mustang became the preferred fighter in Europe after mid-1944 but entered service in the Pacific in large numbers only in the war's final months. Read Less