Hi Jared,
Well, 'good' isn't really an adjective I would use to describe this book, 'superlative' or 'outstanding' being much better, imho. It provides a perfect example on how to write a detailed aviation monograph about a lesser type when someone has access to practically all the surviving documention produced by the very same company who built the aircraft. You can consider it the definitive work on these rather obscure (sorry if I am offending Belgian fellow forumists) fighter prototypes. The author manages to prove that the design had a lot of potential, without being biased towards the Renard fighters which can be considered the top achievement of the Belgian aero industry on the eve of WW II. After reading the book I think the R.36 and its Merlin-engined derivative, the R. 38, were the best fighters out of the bunch designed and built by lesser powers, the Rogozarski Ik-3 and the IAR 80 coming close, perhaps in the 2nd and 3rd place.
Mr. Godfurnon is also a skilled draftsman. He produced the best available scale drawings of the Renard R. 36, R. 37 and R. 38, based upon original archival material. Photo reproduction is top notch, with some images printed to high quality standards (half of a page and at least in one case, the entire page). An interesting detail: the cover art, depicting the R.36 in flight, was done by Romain Hugault, a well known French illustrator and comic author, noted for his aviation themed stories set in the 1930s and WW II and voluptuous pin-ups...
HN
