Harrier Boys by Bob Marston, published by Grub Street (ISBN-13:9-781-909808-29-4). This book, Volume 1, covers the period from the Cold War through to the Falklands campaign. The author, an RAF Harrier pilot, shown head-on hovering on the eye-catching cover photograph, has collected personal stories from many well known Harrier pilots including our own Heinz Frick and the author himself. Topics covered vary from the great trans-Atlantic air race to the Belize deployment, via the Falklands and operational conversion. We get the inside view on events that we may well think we know about but these stories put new complexions on the events and add valuable detail to the historical record.

The writers are also very witty. The book is enjoyable, well produced and generously illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs. It is well worth the cover price of £20 (£16.59 from Amazon) and is highly recommended to all ‘Hawker people’. I can’t wait for Volume 2. 

Book Reviews

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The Aviation Historian Nick Stroud’s splendid quarterly goes from strength to strength, always packed with interesting articles about unusual topics, wonderfully illustrated with excellently reproduced photographs and drawings, often covering Hawker matters.

Issue 12 contains a feature article written by David Lockspeiser about a tour he made to Jordan, the Lebanon, India and Burma, returning via Moscow, making liaison visits to operators of Hunters and Sea Furys. Issue 13 tells the story of the Portugese Hurricanes used in the famous Battle of Britain film. If you haven’t yet tried TAH go to www.theaviationhistorian.com where you can see what the publication looks like - and take out a subscription.