Some Future Titles of Interest for SPF Members

[LowObservable]

i'll just leave this here

 

[Sferrin]

"There is no record of a book titled Dark Desert Skies by military aviation journalist Bill Sweetman." When is it planned to be out?

 

[LowObservable]

"There is no record of a book titled Dark Desert Skies by military aviation journalist Bill Sweetman." When is it planned to be out?

updates to be released as and when appropriate but seriously did you think AI had the jump on me?

 

[Neufrank]

i'll just leave this here

Where can I get a copy?

 

[LowObservable]

Where can I get a copy?

I'll update when I have a publication date from the house of pescatarian flightless birds

 

[bobbymike]

In the dark desert skies
Cool planes in the air
Fresh smell of jet fuel
Rising up everywhere

- to the tune of Hotel California

 

[Dagger]

A new MiG-31 book written by Abraham Abrams will be published by Pen & Sword in December 2026:

 

[alberchico]

Considering that Yefim Gordon has practically retired at this point due to health issues, it's nice too see other authors writing about Russian military aviation. Aside from Andreas Rupprecht and Tom Cooper, no one else seems to be writing about this topic.

 

[FighterJock]

I was wondering what had happened to Yefim Gordon alberchico it was a while since his last book, sad to hear that it was due to health issues, the Abraham Abrams book will certainly be different since I bought his J-20 book two years ago.

 

[Owens Z]

"There is no record of a book titled Dark Desert Skies by military aviation journalist Bill Sweetman." When is it planned to be out?

updates to be released as and when appropriate but seriously did you think AI had the jump on me?

I'll update when I have a publication date from the house of pescatarian flightless birds

Sferrin, while I have taken flak for it, I was and remain a fan of Bill Sweetman's well-written 1993 book Aurora: The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane, which I had purchased back then, to add to the several Sweetman titles on my shelves. Mr Sweetman wrote a follow-up article "Area 51: No Past—No Future?" in the fascinating 1998 bookazine Xplanes, and an article "New Secrets of Area 51" in the October 2006 issue of Popular Science, which I continue to lovingly preserve. All three works mention the 1989 sighting of something strange in the sky over the North Sea by Chris Gibson, this Forum's @CJGibson and then a member of the Royal Observer Corps expert in planespotting. The general sense of the existence of an American hypersonic recon aircraft program has since progressed from scoffing to ridicule, not least here on < https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/aurora-a-famous-speculative-project.7886/ >. I don't know Mr Gibson's current thoughts. But I for one hope that Mr Sweetman's very welcome forthcoming book will unflinchingly engage with this matter in detail, with the benefit of three decades of hindsight. I look forward to publication.

 

[Sferrin]

Oh I've had probably a half dozen of his books over the years. The two Bills were at the top of my list as far back as the 80s. (Bill Sweetman and Bill Gunston). I don't doubt at all that he's writing something. Just wondered if there was anything announced by a publisher or something.

 

[FighterJock]

Same here Sferrin, I liked Bill Gunston too, I bought his first Stealth book back in when it first came out back in 1992 and still have it to this day.

 

[Owens Z]

Considering that Yefim Gordon has practically retired at this point due to health issues, it's nice too see other authors writing about Russian military aviation. Aside from Andreas Rupprecht and Tom Cooper, no one else seems to be writing about this topic.

I was wondering what had happened to Yefim Gordon alberchico it was a while since his last book, sad to hear that it was due to health issues, the Abraham Abrams book will certainly be different since I bought his J-20 book two years ago.

I too happened to notice a few weeks ago that once-prolific author Yefim Gordon has not published a new book in English for several years now. I'm sorry to learn that he is ill. Best wishes to Mr Gordon for his full recovery to health.

I hadn't heard of Abraham Abrams until just now. How is his book J-20 Mighty Dragon for Helion, FighterJock? It seems unlikely that Mr Abrams could be a good writer in English and read Chinese fluently and read Russian fluently. Will his forthcoming MiG-31 book for Pen & Sword be more than an expanded Wikipedia article from strictly secondary sources? Our host Overscan had breezily recommended that writers doing research simply put foreign-language text through a modern AI translator. I worry how long that can be sustained before the unneeded middleman (the human) is—how shall I put this?—let go.

 

[Kiltonge]

"

I hadn't heard of Abraham Abrams until just now.

Allegedly he has a masters in War Studies from Kings College, is fluent in Russian , Chinese and Korean, spent time in North Korea and has churned out prodigious books and online articles.

But there's not a single photo of him online and he doesn't seem to have a personal website or social media presence. And his name is remarkably convenient for alphabetic sorting.

My Spidey senses are tingling.

I'm more than willing to be corrected but I find it hard to understand how such a phenomenal polymath stays so... stealthy.

 

[edwest4]

"


Allegedly he has a masters in War Studies from Kings College, is fluent in Russian , Chinese and Korean, spent time in North Korea and has churned out prodigious books and online articles.

But there's not a single photo of him online and he doesn't seem to have a personal website or social media presence. And his name is remarkably convenient for alphabetic sorting.

My Spidey senses are tingling.

I'm more than willing to be corrected but I find it hard to understand how such a phenomenal polymath stays so... stealthy.

A smart move. Two coworkers had their personal information stolen online. It was obvious from the moment the internet began that thieves would find ways to exploit it.

 

[alberchico]

He has written for reputable publishers like Helion and Pen & Sword, so I assume his background and previous published works were verified so as to make sure he's not just some quack off the street. Having said that I have his J-20 book and he has a tendency to accept whatever claims are presented at face value without looking into them. For example in the first chapter he argues that the SU-27 is a better fighter aircraft than the F-15 in every respect. And when I glanced at the citation to see where he gets that claim from, he references Yefim Gordon's books on the subject. So make of that what you will. Throughout the book he also describes the J-20 as an amazing fighter without any real shortcomings.

 

[FighterJock]

He also has a MiG-25 book coming out by Shiffer publishing so I will be looking forward to that one when it is released.

 

[Kiltonge]

He also has a MiG-25 book coming out by Shiffer publishing so I will be looking forward to that one when it is released.

Unless this mysterious Abrams entity has had access to the Russian archives then I wouldn't expect much beyond what Gordon and Komissarov have already produced.

 

[Zaltys]

Amount of people believing that Yefim telling them true never ceases to amaze me.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

None of his books have shown any inclination to original research, so don't expect too much.

 

[Owens Z]

A new MiG-31 book written by Abraham Abrams will be published by Pen & Sword in December 2026:

Allegedly [Abraham Abrams] has a masters in War Studies from Kings College, is fluent in Russian , Chinese and Korean, spent time in North Korea and has churned out prodigious books and online articles. But there's not a single photo of him online and he doesn't seem to have a personal website or social media presence. And his name is remarkably convenient for alphabetic sorting. My Spidey senses are tingling. I'm more than willing to be corrected but I find it hard to understand how such a phenomenal polymath stays so... stealthy.

[Abraham Abrams] has written for reputable publishers like Helion and Pen & Sword, so I assume his background and previous published works were verified so as to make sure he's not just some quack off the street. Having said that I have his J-20 book and he has a tendency to accept whatever claims are presented at face value without looking into them. For example in the first chapter he argues that the SU-27 is a better fighter aircraft than the F-15 in every respect. And when I glanced at the citation to see where he gets that claim from, he references Yefim Gordon's books on the subject. So make of that what you will. Throughout the book he also describes the J-20 as an amazing fighter without any real shortcomings.

Unless this mysterious Abrams entity has had access to the Russian archives then I wouldn't expect much beyond what Gordon and Komissarov have already produced.

None of his books have shown any inclination to original research, so don't expect too much.

I'm in the exact market to pay money for such a book, Dagger (and of course, thanks for bringing this title to our attention). The attractive front cover layout is evidence that Pen & Sword cares (although if I was the editor, the subtitle and author name would not be in all-caps). But if Mr Abrams has no desire (or ability) to research primary sources and has limited himself to well-known English-language references like the 1989 book OKB MiG by Piotr Butowski & Jay Miller, the 1998 Putnam book MiG Aircraft by Bill Gunston & Yefim Gordon, and Wikipedia, as commenters here infer, or if "Abrams" is revealed as another regurgitating AI, then I suspect this book will be disappointingly malnourished. I pass. But I'll read reviews after publication, just in case this book turns out to be a gem.

 

[alberchico]

If you are a fan of Trijets these two are a must buy.

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Hawker-Siddeley-Trident-Hardback/p/62236

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Boeing-727-Hardback/p/61906

 

[BigD]

This definitely looks interesting and surprisingly comprehensive...
The British 15-Inch Gun

The British 15-inch 42 calibre Mk1 gun was the most widely used heavy gun of the twentieth century. It armed twenty-two battleships, battlecruisers, large cruisers and monitors of the Royal Navy. It took part in over eighty naval engagements spanning both World Wars, including famous battles such as Jutland, Cape Matapan and the Denmark Strait.

In this new history, Chris Baker looks beyond the wars, campaigns and ships, to analyse in depth, for the first time, the part played by the gun itself in shaping these events. He uses the records of the Ordnance Board to explore the origins and design of the gun, and the difficulties which were encountered in manufacturing it.

In addition to analysis of operational use of the gun in the naval battles and bombardments, this book examines the infrastructure which sustained the guns in war and peace. This ranged from shore bases, ammunition supply, and refurbishment and repair arrangements to target and battle practice at sea. Making extensive use of the original gun log records, he examines the deployment and distribution of all 188 guns, and the policies which governed their use.

The narrative also explores the extensive use of these guns for trials and experimentation from 1913 to the 1960s, including the prolonged search for improved shell performance. There are chapters covering the decisions to use the guns ashore for coastal artillery, both as the main armament of the Singapore fortress, and to control the Dover Strait in World War Two. The improvements made to the gun performance in the 1930s are described.

The book concludes with a description of the fate of the guns during and after World War Two, and the story of how the final two guns in existence came to be saved by the Imperial War Museum in the 1960s.

This first comprehensive look at the origins, manufacture, management, use and demise of the 15-inch gun is extensively illustrated, and has detailed statistical analysis of all the guns, and the operations they took part in.

 

[GTX]

https://www.bugattipage.com/bugatti-de-monge-100p-record-plane.htm

Aviation History of Two Pioneers by Jaap Horst With foreword by Paul-Benoît de Monge de Franeau, Louis de Monge was his granduncle, the youngest brother of his grandfather Paul de Monge. The development of this extremely advanced airplane with many novel features was started in 1936. Ettore Bugatti hired the Belgian Louis de Monge as chief engineer to design the aerodynamics and airframe. The first version of the airplane was planned as a speed-record airplane, a military version was to follow later. Tragically the Bugatti 100P airplane never flew, the Germans invaded Paris where it was being built when there were only a few more months of construction work to go. The airplane surprisingly survived the war, and still exists in the EAA museum in Oshkosh, USA. A flying replica was constructed in the USA, aerodynamically identical to the original. This beauty tragically crashed less than a minute after take-off of the 3rd flight, killing the pilot and builder of the airplane, Scotty Wilson. This book has a different focus compared to my first book on the subject published in 2013 and 2015 (2nd edition). The emphasis is more on the Bugatti-de Monge 100P record plane and the replica airplane built by Scotty Wilson, a bit less on Ettore Bugatti's aero-engines and Louis de Monge's airplanes. On all subjects, new, additional information was found over the last decade, most of which is included in this book. This includes more info on the replica project and the reason(s) behind it's crash, some more information on the original airplane and a lot of new photographic material especially on the Bugatti US-model 16 cylinder aero-engine. The history of Bugatti in aviation continues all the way to the current day, details of which are now included. On Louis de Monge we found more information as well, especially on his post-war activities in the USA. Included are drawings and details on his last airplane design of 1958. In all, the book is a must for any Bugatti enthusiast who has a broader interest than the automobiles alone. However, it will also attract aero-enthusiasts especially those with a passion for record aircraft, as well as those who are interested in the strange prototypes which were designed, built and sometimes successfully flew. Finally, there are a lot of technical details alongside the history often told through the key personalities themselves. ISBN : 978-94-6456-597-3 Language : English Format : 225 x 285 mm Pages : 176, hardcover Approx. 400 photographs and drawings Published by : Walburg - Lanasta Price: 36 euro

 

[hesham]

Amazing find my dear GTX,

and I hope we get more aircraft and projects than the
first edition